Chema Alonso has signed for Cloudflare and the RFEF after leaving Telefónica. This creates a strange situation for LaLiga

Chema Alonso has converted His departure from Telefónica In March in the most controversial play of the year in Spanish football. In a few weeks he has formalized his total departure from Telefónica, He has signed as a technological advisor of the RFEF Arbitral Technical Committeeand now he has announced his arrival in Cloudflare as Vice President for International Development.

Why is it important. It is a very peculiar role change. Alonso now works simultaneously for two organizations that maintain structural conflicts with LaLiga:

1. The RFEF, historical rival for the control of Spanish football, with the battle intensified in recent years.
2. And Cloudflare, a company that LaLiga accuses of “collaborating with criminal organizations” by protecting more than 50% of the websites that are illegally soccer.

The context. For more than a decade in Telefónica, Alonso had privileged access to LaLiga antipiratry strategies. Telefónica is more than who issues LaLiga: it is their strategic partner, fundamental in the fight against illegal emissions and who technically executes judicial blockages.

Audiovisual rights represent 40-50% of LaLiga’s income, and Movistar Plus+ is its largest buyer. The irony is that the man who helped to design antipiratía defenses now works for those who help to overcome them.

The facts. Cloudflare maintains an open war with LaLiga. The company has implemented privacy protection technologies that also hinder illegal content tracking: dynamic IP changes, HTTP port blocking, anonymization systems … and above all, Ech.

LaLiga got judicial orders in recent months to block Cloudflare IPS during the parties, which affected thousands of legitimate websites that were left without service. Cloudflare demanded from LaLiga for these blockages, but Justice rejected it And it was In the hands of the Constitutional.

• In parallel, LaLiga and the RFEF fight a constant battle for calendars, schedules, disciplinary jurisdiction and audiovisual rights.
• They are not partners that cooperate, rather they are institutional rivals who have starred several struggles for the control of schedules, that of the Super Cup or The institutional battle that starred Thebes and Rubiales.

For his part, Telefónica spent months on the war between LaLiga and Cloudflare, but He ended up taking sides. Obviously, for the first.

Between the lines. He Timing It does not seem accidental. Three strategic movements in a few months. Alonso is positioned as the only actor with direct influence on two fronts against LaLiga. And armed with privileged information about their strategies.

Your appointment in the RFEF will give access to arbitral systems. And from Cloudflare, he knows how LaLiga operates after so many years in his partner: his possible technical weaknesses, internal processes, calendars of legal actions.

In perspective. Cloudflare could well be executing a “regulatory capture” operation: place someone with technical credibility in the regulatory body, influence the technological policies of Spanish football from within, neutralize future antipirable regulations.

For the company, hiring Alonso is recruiting someone with knowledge Insider As few have. And that makes him an extraordinarily valuable asset.

Yes, but. The situation raises unanswered questions.

• Did Telefónica know Alonso’s plans when he said goodbye?
• Was your departure completely involuntary?
• Can LaLiga legally challenge your appointment in the RFEF for conflict of interest?

What we do know is that the signing for cloudflare does not imply a conflict with Telefónica for possible agreements for exit, as we have been able to know by knowledgeable sources of the matter.

From Xataka We have contacted LaLiga, who has declined to comment on this. The same has exposed Telefónica.

We have also tried to contact Chema Alonso, without success: The ‘contact’ section of its website It only offers as contact methods a postal address and the possibility of sending previous messages using the platform Mypublicinboxa company of which it is a shareholder and promoter.

In Xataka | What is cloudflare, how it works and why a fall or block makes half the Internet fail

Outstanding image | Telefónica, Gregorio Cavana