The president of the Spanish football association RFEF, Luis Rubiales, who has been under criticism for months, is again under pressure. The Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial published excerpts of private chats in which Rubiales made disparaging remarks about top division clubs Villarreal, Sevilla FC and Valencia FC on Tuesday. Rubiales allegedly wrote to his father that “in this order” the clubs he disliked the least were. In a joint communiqué, the three clubs demanded a public apology from Rubiales.
A message that Rubiales is said to have written to his father on January 18, 2020 and which, literally translated, reads cryptically, caused a particular stir: “Let’s see if we can do this palangana brush, I don’t like them.” Palangana (“washbasin”) is Sevilla FC’s derogatory nickname, alluding to the team’s white shirts; the word “brush” is a very common, vulgar-leaning synonym for the word “sleeping “. In the German-Spanish lexicon of the Pons-Verlag you will also find a word with the initial letter “F” under “brush”.
The story develops piquancy less for reasons of colloquialism, which Rubiales cultivates, but above all from the fact that, as head of the association, he is also the boss of the Spanish referees. And lo and behold: on that January 18th, after the game at Real Madrid, FC Sevilla felt so involuntarily brushed through that sports director Monchi’s comb swelled, although he has had a very smooth head for many years.
The reason: When the score was 0-0, the referee disallowed a perfectly legal goal by Sevilla striker Luuk de Jong. The video referee called back the Dutchman’s header because he had previously seen an action that he very exclusively rated as a foul on a Real Madrid defender.
De Jong later scored an interim equaliser; during the initiation, preparer Munir touched the ball with his hand, there were discussions, in the end the goal was declared legal. “If the goal hadn’t been recognised, I would have sent the team off,” manager Monchi said after the game. It ended in a 2-1 win for eventual champions Real Madrid.
The fact that written Whatsapp dialogues are now making the rounds, in which Rubiales condescendingly comments on FC Sevilla, fits into the image that they have of the head of the association, especially in the Andalusian capital. For years there have been more or less open differences about minor and major issues. The statement published by Sevilla with Valencia and Villarreal states that the statements that have become public are “unacceptable”. It was “unacceptable” that the head of the association expressed himself “so insultingly, with such dislike and arrogance” because as head of the association he had to watch over the interests of all clubs.
“Seville, Valencia and Villarreal condemn the slight and disrespect” shown by Rubiales “to our institutions, but above all to our supporters,” the clubs write. They are also “extremely concerned about the possible consequences that this attitude can have for our clubs; his behavior does not contribute to the transparency of the competition”. There was initially no reaction from Rubiales.
Rubiales denies all allegations and speaks of a “campaign” against him
Rubiales, who has been at the head of the Spanish federation since 2018 and previously headed the players’ union AFE, has repeatedly struggled with the publication of private correspondence in recent months. Among other things, dialogues that he had with FC Barcelona professional Gerard Piqué became public. It was about the holding of the Spanish Supercup in Saudi Arabia, including the distribution of the million-dollar prizes among the participants. Spain’s anti-corruption public prosecutor’s office is currently interested in the case. Rubiales was also accused of moving into a luxury apartment in Madrid at the expense of the association; He is also said to have billed pleasure trips with his girlfriend in New York as business trips.
Another sensitive case became known in mid-September: Juan Rubiales, who was his head of cabinet and is his biological uncle, made representations to the public prosecutor’s office in Spain – and accused his nephew Luis of having held a meeting in Salobreña, Andalusia in August 2020, which was declared a work retreat Having paid the association’s credit card, among other things, the invoice items showed the participation of several young women who did not belong to the association. The association denied to the newspaper El País, which had been reflexively assumed: that they were prostitutes. Rubiales has denied any wrongdoing and speaks of a “campaign” orchestrated against him by unknown persons.