Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD) has demanded that the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) return government money "that it did not spend on a project in Haiti as intended," according to Adriana Garcia of ESPN.com. The CSD gave the RFEF a €219,500 grant to build a football school in Haiti "following the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean nation" in January '10, but El Mundo reported on Friday that "most of that was diverted to other federation expenses." CSD Head of Communications Victor Charneco said, "I can confirm that a few months ago we requested for the RFEF to return part of the grant in question for the amounts that have not been justified. ... Should they not abide, the CSD has the necessary tools to proceed to recover that money." The grant given was "intended to build a school in Haiti for around 120 to 150 children but also to send the necessary kits, material, food and medicine as aid." El Mundo reported that the school "was never built and that, of the €219,500 of public funds handed to the RFEF," more than €176,000 was used to cover other RFEF expenses "unrelated to helping the Haitian children, such as paying wages of coaches within its football schools" (ESPN.com, 10/28).
