In a few hours, he accomplished the feat of becoming the most famous name in Spanish football. Not for the right reasons. Since his “forced kiss” in mondiovision towards one of the Spanish world champions, on August 20, Luis Rubiales has not missed one. The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) sticks to an insane schedule: one day, a scandal.
His own federation claims his head, the Spanish executive lodges a complaint against him, the freshly champion players go on strike, a preliminary investigation for “sexual assault” has been opened against him. A sequence likely to make any leader waver. But the forty-year-old remains firmly planted on his supports, castigating “false feminism” a few days ago and repeatedly hammering: “I will not resign”.
“What is happening is the Spanish metoo, analyzes Thibaud Leplat, editor-in-chief of the After magazine. It comes at a time when Spanish women’s football is modernizing and it reveals the archaism of the management of female footballers in the country. This is only the tip of the iceberg. It is comparable to the shock wave caused in France by the Le Graët affair”.
Harassment, conflict of interest… Rubiales subscribed to legal cases
The lawyer was suspended for 90 days by Fifa from “all football-related activity at national and international level”, while Spanish justice invited Jenni Hermoso, the victim player, to “file a complaint”. But the story does not end there. With the controversy, other past facts or inappropriate attitudes of the suspended president have resurfaced. Who is really Luis Manuel Rubiales, elected head of the RFEF in 2018?
Before opting for suit and tie, Luis Rubiales, 46, started his journey in shorts and cleats. The full-back has had a modest professional career, marked by his time at Levante (2003-2008). After nearly 300 professional matches and a last freelance in Scotland, Rubiales hung up and became president in 2010 of the AFE (Association de Futbolistas Espanoles), a player’s union.
He signed his first coup there: the strike of the players, in 2011, who refused to start the championship as long as salary arrears were not paid by the clubs. At the time, Rubiales did not hesitate to step up, believing that “the values of sport are not respected”, as recalled by Release. In eight years at the head of the union, the Andalusian will accumulate business. Former APE marketing director Tamara Ramos accused her ex-president of sexual harassment in a TV interview with Telecinco. She claimed that Rubiales multiplied sexist remarks against her. Charges already made in 2017.
A total absence of questioning
In May 2018, Rubiales took over as head of the Spanish federation, a few weeks before the World Cup in Russia. The day before La Roja entered the fray, the new president bluntly separated from his coach, guilty of having signed a contract with Real Madrid without having informed the federation. The World Cup will be a fiasco for Spain. Rubiales will refuse to see any responsibility of the federation, even considering that his decision to dismiss the coach would have been approved by… Barack Obama, as recalled SoFoot.
At least two other major scandals have splattered the mandate of the former professional. In 2022, he is accused by his uncle John, ex-chief of staff of the RFEF, of having heated up the credit card of the federation to organize sexual orgies with “eight or ten young girls”. The same year, Spanish justice became interested in Rubiales, after revelations fromEl Confidential on the conditions for awarding the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. According to a complainant, Rubiales and Gérard Pique would have agreed on a plan to share 24 million euros in profit, at the expense of the federation in particular.
At the time, Rubiales had “survived” his various revelations by denying everything. He adopted the same strategy this time around. “Because everyone tells him to resign, he refuses to do so. It’s a hard head, ”judge Thibaud Leplat. In his stronghold of Motril, Andalusia, around 200 people rallied in support of Rubiales, while his own mother began a hunger strike in a church in the city by denouncing the “unjust” treatment reserved for his son. According to the latest echoes of the international press, the pressing of the Rubiales camp does not seem to bear fruit. The leader faces a 15-year suspension, as related by the DailyMail.
“There is still a lot to do, but the Rubiales affair was like accelerated training, training for feminism against sexists in the world, added Meli Galarza, president of a feminist association on the defense of the image of women, questioned by Málaga Hoy. Especially in football, which enjoys much more media coverage than other sports.