So I'm going to approach this from a different perspective as I speculate what the president's thought process may have been. I will also admit I know nothing about politics in Spain and only have the info I just read in your post.

My guess is the President may be a smart guy and recognized Maxim's popularity and thought he may be around for a while so he should persuade his opinions that are on the extreme ends closer to center. He had a clear disconnect with sports so what is the one way to encourage a change of opinion? By putting him as close as he can to that world so that he is forced to learn the ins and outs. This may have changed his perspective in the long run as most people are only ignorant towards something because they know nothing about it.