Arsenio Cañada, director of Sports at RTVE, and Francisco Javier Grima, director of the Teledeporte channel, have been accused of an alleged crime of own bribery, according to a complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office this week and to which EL MUNDO has accessed. Specifically, the complainants accuse the two journalists of having encouraged the "covert advertising" of the fashion brand El Ganso during the broadcasts of the World Cup matches in Qatar.
At the moment, the Prosecutor's Office has not yet decided if it will accept the complaint for processing. But, according to judicial sources, the mere complaint implies that initial proceedings and an investigation will be opened. Only then will Anti-Corruption decide whether to go ahead with the process or not. This newspaper has contacted Arsenio Cañada, who did not want to comment on the matter and has sent it to the press department, which will not make any statement. Grima is currently on leave "hired by Teledeporte".
The issue of surreptitious advertising is an old problem for RTVE. The public entity has received numerous complaints and penalties from the National Competition Market Commission (CNMC). One of the latest was a fine of more than 128,000 euros for the issuance of "undercover commercial communications" during the broadcast of the Masterchef Celebrity program.
This case, however, goes further. In addition to the administrative complaint that has led to the opening of an investigation file by the CNMC and an information file on RTVE to clarify responsibilities, the complaint before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor opens criminal proceedings by requesting that a possible crime of bribery by Cañada and Grima.
EL MUNDO has learned that the RTVE unions are considering joining the complaint against the "irregularities" in the RTVE Sports department that they have been denouncing for a long time.
In addition to "obvious and obvious irregularities in the dissemination of El Ganso's advertising", a practice prohibited by the CNMC, the complaint states that "it cannot be ruled out" that both the director of Sports of RTVE and the director of Teledeporte "have profited directly or indirectly by the dissemination of such surreptitious advertising".
Coincidentally, El Ganso is the sponsor of the men's soccer team in its absolute category and dressed the players during the sporting event. The clothing firm's agreement with the Spanish team is for the next four years.
The controversy over El Ganso's clothing by the RTVE editors, presenters and collaborators who covered the World Cup has been around for a long time. Shortly before the championship began, the CNMC, at the request of UTECA, Atresmedia and Mediaset, prohibited RTVE from contracting advertising for the World Cup with advertisers other than FIFA sponsors, among which this Spanish firm is not.
However, the El Ganso logo was clearly visible in the locker room of the network's presenters. "The entire RTVE team, as well as collaborators and commentators traveling to Qatar, wore uniforms with clothing from the El Ganso clothing brand, including the clearly identifiable logo on said clothing, which implies a form of covert advertising called product placement." , states the complaint.
According to sources familiar with the case, there was never an official or written contract with El Ganso. But they do speak of a "verbal contract" for the Madrid firm to dress the RTVE team in the World Cup. This would have benefited from the visibility of the logo in programs that reached audience peaks of 12 million viewers.
The interim president of the Corporation, Elena Sánchez, assured in Congress on February 14 that RTVE did not receive any economic benefit, She also stated that it was not "a sponsorship action", that "no contract was signed" and that it was not a publicity action.
However, throughout the broadcast of the World Cup in Qatar, the RTVE workers who covered the sporting event always wore El Ganso clothing, as was evident in all the broadcasts. The jackets and shirts that appeared on the screen had the RTVE logo embroidered on one side, and the logo of the clothing firm on the other.
As confirmed by the same sources, all RTVE workers at the World Cup received the order directly from Cañada y Grima, via email. "The orders to wear the El Ganso logo to all RTVE professionals posted to Qatar came from those accused," the complaint states. "Such covert advertising, if it had to be paid for by El Ganso, would have entailed a high cost, in addition to the fact that it violates free competition, harming the rest of its commercial competitors, using the public Corporation to benefit the interests of a private company".
Sources from Torrespaña assure that there is a "much more than professional" relationship between the Boadilla del Monte-based brand and the two defendants, who took office in February 2020, when Rosa María Mateo was the sole administrator of RTVE. They also confirm that it is not the first time that El Ganso appears on RTVE sports broadcasts: "He already provided clothing at the Tokyo Olympics or at the Champions League final in Paris."
It will be the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor who will investigate whether there is evidence of direct or indirect profit. The letter points out the numerous interactions on social networks between the director of Sports of RTVE and the official profiles of the clothing brand. "Thanks to Arsenio Cañada and RTVE for trusting El Ganso once again," the company tweeted four days after the last Champions League final, where journalists also wore brand clothing.
On Instagram, the link between the director of RTVE and the textile firm is also clear. In several of Cañada's posts from Qatar, the official El Ganso account responds with enthusiastic comments and emoticons, with the consequent 'like' from Cañada.
RTVE issued its internal regulation on surreptitious advertising in 2017, in accordance with what is regulated by the General Advertising Law and the Unfair Competition Law. The text defines said commercial activity as "that form of advertising that involves the verbal or visual presentation, in a non-sporadic or occasional manner, of the goods, services, name, brand or activities of a manufacturer or an entrepreneur in programs in which such presentation has, intentionally on the part of the entity presenting the public television service, advertising purpose and may mislead the public as to the nature of said presentation".
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
