Spain’s former football boss
Rubiales has to go to court on corruption charges
Spain’s former football association boss Luis Rubiales in front of the National Court of Justice in Madrid
© Manu Fernandez / AP / DPA
Spain’s football association president Luis Rubiales resigned from his post last year because of a kiss. But his position haunts him to this day. He has a court date waiting for him at the end of April.
The controversial former Spanish football official Luis Rubiales is scheduled to testify in court at the end of the month on corruption charges against him. A court in Madrid said on Tuesday that it had summoned Rubiales to a hearing on April 29. The former president of the Spanish football association RFEF is suspected of receiving illegal commissions when the Spanish Super Cup was moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020.
In addition to corruption, Rubiales is accused of money laundering. The 46-year-old rejects the allegations. The hearing is scheduled to take place behind closed doors in the office of the responsible examining magistrate in Majadahonda, a suburb of Madrid.
Rubiales was briefly arrested in the case last week. He was taken into custody at Madrid-Barajas Airport immediately after his return from a stay in the Dominican Republic and, according to information from investigative circles, was interrogated in the airport building. Two weeks earlier, the RFEF headquarters and Rubiales’ house in Granada, southern Spain, were searched.
Investigations against Luis Rubiales over the kissing scandal
Rubiales made headlines around the world in August 2023 due to a kissing scandal. After the Spanish women’s national soccer team won the World Cup, he held player Jennifer Hermoso’s head with both hands during the award ceremony and kissed her on the mouth.
Rubiales is therefore being investigated for “sexual assault” and coercion. The public prosecutor’s office is demanding two and a half years in prison. In this case too, Rubiales rejects the allegations. According to his account, the kiss was “consensual”, which Hermoso rejected. She filed a complaint. After a long period of hesitation, Rubiales resigned as head of the association in September.