MADRID: Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) who faces accusations of sexual assault in Spain, has been banned from all football-related activities for three years, world football’s governing body said on Monday.
FIFA initially suspended Rubiales provisionally for three months on Aug 26 following the allegedly non-consensual kiss he gave to Spain player Jenni Hermoso after the Women’s World Cup final on Aug 20.
The incident blew up into a sexism storm that attracted global headlines, overshadowing Spain’s triumph. Rubiales is under investigation by Spain’s High Court for alleged sexual assault and coercion following a criminal complaint by Hermoso.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned Luis Rubiales ... from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code,” FIFA said in a statement on Monday.
Rubiales, who has the right to appeal, told Reuters that he would issue a statement via his social media accounts later on Monday while his lawyers declined to comment on the decision.
FIFA’s decision means Rubiales, 46, can no longer run for the RFEF presidency or General Assembly under Spain’s new electoral regime for sports federations presented last month by the country’s National Sports Council (CSD).
The CSD rules make ineligible anyone who has been sentenced by the disciplinary bodies of national or international federations or sports tribunals.
During his testimony to the court in the assault case, Rubiales denied Hermoso’s accusations, according to the prosecutor’s office. Rubiales has repeatedly said the kiss was consensual, while Hermoso says it was forced on her.
The investigating judge, who imposed a restraining order to prevent Rubiales from approaching Hermoso, also decided to expand the scope of the probe to include Jorge Vilda, the Spain squad’s former coach who was sacked by interim RFEF president Pedro Rocha 10 days after FIFA suspended Rubiales from his post.
The coach was widely criticised for repeatedly applauding Rubiales during an emergency RFEF assembly in which the latter railed against “false feminism” and vowed not to resign.
“Mr Rubiales has been notified of the terms of the FIFA Disciplinary Committees decision today,” FIFA said on Monday. “The decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.”
Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2023
