At the time that the Futsal Spanish Cup advanced towards the final with good numbers of public and the best game of the last editions, Jose Miguel Monkpresident of the National Futsal Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) reviewed with ABC the news of a tournament that in the previous weeks generated a lot of controversy among fans. “We are experiencing a magnificent environment, in fantastic facilities and with an enormous effort on the part of everyone so that it turns out very well and the truth is that it is doing so,” he replies.
President of the Murcian soccer federation, Monje became the visible head of Spanish futsal at the end of last July. «I have followed ElPozo every year, in the 18 that I have been president, the difference is that now I have gone from being just another spectator to being immersed from 7 in the morning to 12 at night, with all the problems and concerns”, he explains about his new position. “That’s what has changed, the responsibility of having to keep an eye on all the details.”
Among his responsibilities after the Royal Spanish Football Federation took over the management of elite futsal, is the organization of the Spanish Cup. A task that he admits is complex but that “is going really well.” “Everything we had planned is going well,” he adds.
oblivious to criticism
However, the tournament this year has been surrounded by controversy. In the first game there was even a whistle on the Federation for the delay in making the venue official and in ticket sales. Monk, far from putting hot cloths, responds forcefully. «He has left everything as he has been able to leave. Where is it regulated that you have to do it seven months before, five or a year. I would understand that if an established rule is not followed, there is a breach. Now, where is the difficulty when everyone is here filling the pavilion and the hotels full? What was the problem? If we want to complain, we complain about whatever we want. That being said, there they all are. It will have cost a little more, but I do not think that a month in advance is insufficient to be able to access a room or be able to access a ticket.
Monje does not believe that the division in which Spanish futsal lives, with the Federation and the National Futsal League facing each other, influences the protests. «For my part, I am the president, I have no tension with anyone. I have coincided with Javier Lozano, we have had a few drinks in Barcelona, we have talked about everything. He has some claims and the Federation has others. I have known him all my life because I have followed ElPozo to all the final phases, my relationship with him is exquisite, without any problem. Now, he has or developed some functions that he did really well. Those functions have been absorbed, because the law allows it, by the Federation, and now it is up to us. And until there».
For the Futsal Committee of the Federation, the objective is to continue growing and improving. «We are starting, logically, I have been there for five months and during this time many things are being done, we have set up a team, we have organized ourselves. You have to think that managing the first and second divisions of futsal is not the same as managing all the competitions, which is what the Committee does. In this case, futsal has 150,000 licenses, thousands of teams and it is a large Federation within a Federation, because the volume of futsal would really be the third of all Spanish federations after soccer and basketball. That requires an organization, that is the first function we have done, to value this entire structure and now we are going to focus on what gives visibility, which are the highest categories of men’s and women’s futsal. Let’s not forget the girls, who are also very aware that we give them the role that corresponds to them socially and organizationally. For example, the fact of having a World Cup that has just been approved, fighting in the Higher Sports Council so that the girls who play this sport can access Social Security aid like other athletes from other fields such as soccer. or other sports activities. That they have the same rights as other athletes.
In all this work, Monje boasts of the support of the Federation: «It is that the RFEF is us, it is not that they have to support the Futsal Committee. The Committee is part of the Federation and I have full powers from Luis Rubiales to move everything forward. He has told me to go ahead with everything. Every time I have made a request of any kind, I have received one hundred percent absolute support from the RFEF Board of Directors.