Six days after the kiss scandal at the women’s World Cup final, the world association Fifa drew further consequences and suspended the Spanish association boss Luis Rubiales. Meanwhile, the dispute with mutual accusations continues to escalate and has sparked a revolt by Spanish footballers against sexism. The Spanish government has also increased the pressure on Rubiales and is aiming for a quick replacement of the 46-year-old.
Fifa suspended Rubiales for all football-related activities at national and international level. The ban is provisional for 90 days, pending the disciplinary proceedings launched by Fifa on Thursday. At the same time, the world association ordered that Rubiales may not contact national player Jennifer Hermoso or her immediate environment, either personally or through a third person. The same applies to the RFEF association and its officials and employees.
The RFEF responded to Rubiales’ suspension a few hours later. The president trusts the Fifa authorities “completely” and the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him give him the opportunity “to begin his defense so that the truth will prevail and his complete innocence will be proven,” it said in a statement.
Shortly thereafter, almost the entire coaching team of the Spanish world champions announced their resignation in solidarity with the player Jennifer Hermoso. According to the Spanish newspaper, head coach Jorde Vilda, who until now has stood by the controversial head of the association Luis Rubiales, lost his entire team Mundo Deportivo and other media reported on Saturday.
Junior coaches distance themselves from the RFEF boss
Coaches from youth teams have also joined the move, including the coaches responsible for the U19 and U17 teams, Sonia Bermúdez and Kenio Gonzalo. In a statement seen by the newspapers, the signatories criticized Rubiales’ behavior and his aggressive speech the previous day. In particular, women officials were forced to sit in the front row at the extraordinary meeting of the association’s general assembly in order to give the false impression that they were standing by the football boss.
If the Spanish government has its way, Rubiales should vacate his post as soon as possible. Sport Minister Miquel Iceta promised the government would seek a swift removal of Rubiales from office. “As far as it depends on us, it’s the last hours of Rubiales,” he told the newspaper El País. According to its own statements, the highest Spanish sports authority CSD applied to the national sports court (Tad) for the suspension of Rubiales. “Mr Rubiales was disappointed in his reaction, he didn’t do what he should have done,” said CSD leader Víctor Francos, referring to the speech by Spanish football’s highest official. In this speech he had rejected a resignation on Friday.
After the 1-0 win in the World Cup final against England last Sunday in Sydney, Rubiales grabbed Hermoso’s head with both hands and kissed him on the mouth. The association boss then spoke of a mistake, but nothing more. Instead, in his speech at the General Assembly on Friday, he spoke of “false feminism as the great scourge of the country” and presented himself as a victim who should be “publicly executed”. The Spanish association accused Hermoso of lying on Saturday night and threatened her with legal action. Her account that the kiss on her mouth at the awards ceremony in Sydney was not by mutual consent was wrong.
To substantiate this, the association published four photos intended to exonerate Rubiales. The respective postures of Rubiales and Hermoso are described in detail. The pictures are proof that Rubiales did not lie. They show Rubiales being held by Hermoso, two of which have his legs in the air. Whether the striker lifted him up or whether he jumped up of his own accord cannot be proven from the short series of pictures.
“I felt vulnerable and a victim,” Hermoso writes
Hermoso had responded to Rubiales’ refusal to resign with a lengthy statement: “I felt vulnerable and the victim of an impulsive, sexist and inappropriate act that I did not consent to. Simply put, I was not respected,” wrote the 33- year-olds in a statement shared on social media.
Shortly before, all the players in the Spanish national team had announced that they would not play again as long as Rubiales was still in office. “It makes us very sad that such unacceptable behavior overshadows the greatest sporting success of Spanish women’s football,” read the statement published by the Futpro union on X, formerly Twitter, and signed by 81 players. “After everything that happened at the Women’s World Cup, we want to make it clear that all the players who have signed will not play for the national team if the current leadership team remains in place.”
The association replied that those who belong to the squad must also compete. The newspaper El País commented on Saturday that the Spanish #Metoo had crystallized into a “close now”. Politicians, media and athletes supported women in a country that has become a pioneer in protecting women from male violence.