After the kiss affair, Spain’s football boss Luis Rubiales is apparently about to resign at an extraordinary general assembly of the RFEF association on Friday in Madrid. At the award ceremony for the Spanish soccer world champions in Australia, the 46-year-old grabbed the Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso on Sunday with both hands on the head and kissed her on the mouth without being asked. In Spain, the outrage was great because of this encroaching behavior. Now Rubiales apparently wants to take the consequences, as several media reports.
The 46-year-old has led the Spanish association since 2018, having previously been president of the Spanish players’ union AFE from 2010 to 2017. Rubiales has been Vice President of the Executive Committee of the European Football Union Uefa for four years – a job that is remunerated annually with 250,000 euros plus expenses. Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin has not yet commented on the incident. Rubiales had – with a delay – admitted a mistake on Monday. He kissed Hermoso on the mouth “spontaneously” and “without any bad intentions or bad will”. After the pressure increased, Rubiales now wants to resign. This was reported by several media on Thursday.
According to media reports, the trigger for the decision to resign was the opening of disciplinary proceedings by the world football association Fifa. The Spanish government had also exerted pressure. “Of course we’re waiting for something to happen. If that’s not the case, the government will act,” said Presidential Minister Félix Bolaños. In addition, the RFEF would like to host the 2030 World Cup with neighboring Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine. The decision should be made by the end of 2024. A scandal like this doesn’t help.
As a result of the attack, there was renewed discussion about power structures and abuse in football. US star Megan Rapinoe spoke of a large “extent of misogyny and sexism in this association and in this man”. The 38-year-old said in an interview to the portal “The Athletic”: “What kind of upside-down world do we actually live in? On the biggest stage where you should celebrate, Jenni (Hermoso) has to be physically attacked by this guy.”
