Rubiales banned for three years by FIFA over Hermoso kiss scandal

PARIS (Agencies): Disgraced former Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales has been banned from all football-related activities for three years by FIFA after kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips following the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney. Rubiales was widely condemned for his conduct following Spain’s historic victory over England on August 20 at the Stadium Australia, which also included grabbing his crotch in a victory gesture in the Presidential box. He had been provisionally suspended for 90 days by the global governing body on August 26, at a time when he firmly resisted widespread calls to stand down as RFEF President and claimed he was victim of a “witch hunt”, before resigning in a television interview on September 10.

FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee today announced it had banned Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, citing a breach of Article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code covering offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play. The full motivated decision would be published if requested by Rubiales within 10 days, and he has the right to take his case to the FIFA Appeals Committee. FIFA said it “reiterates its absolute commitment to respecting and protecting the integrity of all people and ensuring that the basic rules of decent conduct are upheld”.

Legal proceedings are ongoing in Spain, after Hermoso lodged a complaint over the alleged non-consensual kiss. Former RFEF President Luis Rubiales, right, was widely criticised for his conduct following Spain’s victory in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final ©Getty Images Three Spanish players – Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and Misa Rodríguez ––– have testified that Rubiales pressured Hermoso to publicly justify the kiss. Rubiales denies the accusations of sexual assault and coercion. He had been elected as RFEF President in 2018 and to the UEFA Executive Committee the following year, but criticism over his leadership and how the national governing body handled concerns expressed by 15 members of Spain’s women’s team over the management of Jorge Vilda pre-dated the Women’s World Cup triumph in Australia and New Zealand.

Rubiales has issued a general apology for his actions, but continued to insist the kiss was “mutual” and his intentions were “100 per cent non-sexual”. His resignation as RFEF President also mean he forfeited his role as UEFA vice-president, while the European governing body subsequently moved its 2024 Congress away from Spain’s capital Madrid to the French capital Paris.  Pedro Rocha has taken over as Interim President of the RFEF, and under his leadership Spain was surprisingly awarded the men’s 2030 FIFA World Cup subject to approval by the 2024 FIFA Congress, along with Portugal and Morocco as co-hosts with one-off matches in the South American nations of Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

The Spanish High Court probe has expanded to include former coach Vilda, sacked despite the World Cup victory on September 5 as the fallout from the scandal continued, sporting director Albert Luque and RFEF marketing chief Ruben Rivera. Vilda has denied pressuring Hermoso to downplay the kiss received from Rubiales. Rubiales has previously testified that Vilda spoke to Hermoso’s brother as the team flew back to Spain from Australia, but the former coach has denied this was related to trying to coerce the forward, who is Spain’s women’s national team’s all-time top goalscorer. The majority of the Spanish team only agreed to return to international duty for UEFA Women’s Nations League action last month after discussions with the National Sports Council and a number of agreed changes.