Ángel María Villar

In this Spanish name, the family name is Villar.

Ángel María Villar
File:Ángel María Villar.jpg Villar in 2009
Senior Vice President of FIFA
In office 16 March 2017 – 27 July 2017
President	Gianni Infantino
Preceded by	Issa Hayatou
Succeeded by	David Chung
First Vice President of UEFA
In office 1992 – September 2017
President	Lennart Johansson Michel Platini Aleksander Čeferin
Acting President of UEFA
In office 9 October 2015 – 14 September 2016
Preceded by	Michel Platini
Succeeded by	Aleksander Čeferin
Personal details
Born	Ángel María Villar Llona (1950-02-21) 21 February 1950 Bilbao, Spain
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Occupation	Footballer (retired)
Association football career Position(s) Midfielder Youth career 1961–1969 Athletic Bilbao Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1969–1981 Athletic Bilbao 291 (8) 1969–1970 → Galdakao (loan) 18 (1) 1970–1971 → Getxo (loan) 23 (1) Total 332 (10) International career 1972 Spain amateur 1 (0) 1973–1979 Spain 22 (3) 1978–1980 Basque Country 4 (0) *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ángel María Villar Llona (born 21 January 1950) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

After having represented Athletic Bilbao for one decade (appearing in more than 350 official matches and scoring 11 goals), he went on to serve an even longer stint as president of the Spanish Football Federation.

Villar was a Spain international in the 70s.

Club career

Villar was born in Bilbao, Biscay, and emerged through the youth ranks of local Athletic Bilbao, going on to make his senior debut in amateur football on loan, after which he returned in 1971. He was an undisputed starter in nine of his ten seasons with the Basque side, helping them to two Copa del Rey finals and winning the 1973 edition.

In March 1974, during a 0–0 La Liga home draw against FC Barcelona, Villar elbowed opposing superstar Johan Cruyff, as the Dutch was subject to severe man-marking by several Athletic players. He eventually received a four-match ban for his actions, but the pair later reconciled, and Villar retired seven years later with 361 competitive appearances for his main club.

International career

Villar played 22 times for Spain, scoring three goals. His debut came on 17 October 1973 in a 0–0 friendly with Turkey, in Istanbul.

On 9 December 1979, his last cap, Villar helped the nation to qualify for UEFA Euro 1980, scoring in a 3–1 win in Cyprus. He did not participate, however, in any major international tournament.

Villar also represented the unofficial Basque Country team.

Post-retirement

In 1979, still as an active player, Villar majored in law, and would practice the activity during the following years, which he accumulated with several posts in the footballing hierarchies – he was one of the founders of the Association of Spanish Footballers in 1978.

Having already worked in the Royal Spanish Football Federation under president José Luis Roca, Villar was elected his successor in 1988. He was in charge as the national team won the 2010 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.

Villar also occupied several roles within UEFA and FIFA, being named the organizations' vice president, respectively in 1992 and 2002. Following Spain's controversial exit at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he left his post at the latter, but was immediately named, amongst others, for the presidency of the Referees' Committee; also that year, he was named for that position at UEFA.

Villar led the unsuccessful Spain and Portugal 2018 World Cup bid. On 16 February 2012, he was elected for his seventh term at the helm of the Spanish Federation, remaining in office until 2016.

Following the suspension of Michel Platini in October 2015, Villar became UEFA's acting president. The following month, he was fined 25,000 Swiss francs and warned by the FIFA Ethics Committee for failing to cooperate with the investigation into the bidding process of the 2018 World Cup.

On 18 July 2017, Villar was arrested on suspicion of embezzling funds. Nine days later, he resigned from his post at both FIFA and UEFA.

Personal life

Villar's niece, María Villar Galaz, was kidnapped and murdered in Toluca, Mexico in September 2016.

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

• Copa del Rey: 1972–73; Runner-up 1976–77
• UEFA Cup runner-up: 1976–77

External links

• Ángel María Villar profile at BDFutbol
• Athletic Bilbao profile
• Ángel María Villar at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ángel María Villar at EU-Football.info
• Ángel María Villar – FIFA competition record

Civic offices
Preceded by Michel Platini	Acting President of UEFA 2015–2016	Succeeded by Aleksander Čeferin
Sporting positions
Preceded by José Luis Roca	President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation 1988–2017	Succeeded by Luis Rubiales