Rafael Louzán Joins the Global Football Industry at the World Football Summit

Under the title Spain, a Global Power: Today’s Success and Tomorrow’s Challenges, the conversation between RFEF president Rafael Louzán and AS newspaper director José Félix Díaz on Wednesday afternoon was one of the highlights of the World Football Summit in Madrid.

📹 🇪🇸🏆 The work behind the trophies.

⚽️ The RFEF shows at the World Football Summit how Spanish football’s success is built.

🗣 Rafael Louzán: “We work with a very powerful brand image around the world.”

The event, which is bringing together some of the leading professionals from the global football industry in the Spanish capital this week, featured the RFEF president’s perspective at a historic moment of prosperity and harmony for Spanish football.

“From the outset, we wanted to bring peace and unity,” Louzán explained. “Together with the values of stability and trust, these are the principles we want to follow in terms of governance. We saw that at the World Cup too, where it wasn’t just Spain that won, but football itself, thanks to the naturalness and humility of Luis de la Fuente and a group of 26 players who gave us the experience of a lifetime — a moment that brought an entire nation together.”

Regarding the national team head coach, the RFEF president described Luis de la Fuente as “the best coach in our history, and that is backed up by both his personality and his results. He is someone who is loved and admired, and I hope he can finish his professional career at the RFEF,” while announcing that an agreement to renew the Riojan coach’s contract is imminent.

Looking ahead to the 2030 World Cup, Louzán reiterated that “Spain must host the grand final, and the whole country is already counting down to its start. It will be a great challenge to organise the centenary World Cup, and we will rise to the occasion as we always do at major events,” thanks to the work of many people, including Spain’s State Security Forces and Corps.

The RFEF president also highlighted the selection of Camp Nou as the venue for the 2029 UEFA Champions League final, which will complement the final being held at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium at the end of this season.

The strong figures behind the agreement to stage the Spanish Super Cup in Istanbul, which will benefit more than 500 men’s and women’s clubs across Spain, the increase in RFEF sponsorship revenue and the promising prospects for the national team ahead of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil also featured prominently in the discussion. During the conversation, Rafael Louzán said that “right now, across every age group, it is genuinely enviable to watch Spain play.”

Following the event in the World Football Summit’s main auditorium, the RFEF president toured the different areas of the congress alongside its CEO, Marian Otamendi.

Among the various WFS spaces, Rafael Louzán stopped to view the exhibition of trophies won by Spain’s national teams across different age groups and disciplines. He also visited the RFEF presentation area, where over two days various professionals have outlined the Federation’s work in fields as diverse as commercial operations, medicine, communications, social action, coaching and child safeguarding. The space has also welcomed organisations and social initiatives that work closely with the RFEF, including Be My Referee, UNICEF, CEAR and Dragones de Lavapiés, a club focused on using football as a tool for social inclusion.