The former president of the Spanish Football Association, Luís Rubiales, faces arrest as soon as he returns home from a stay abroad. The background is investigations into allegedly irregular contracts that were concluded during Rubiales’ five-year presidency of the RFEF football association, said a spokesman for the judiciary in Madrid at the request of the German Press Agency on Thursday. So far, there is no warrant for the arrest of the 46-year-old, whose lawyer announced that her client would return home from the Dominican Republic on April 6th. Rubiales told the newspaper “El Español”: “I have never done anything bad.”
Whether Rubiales will actually be arrested upon his return, as various Spanish media reported, depends on the decision of the elite UCO unit of the Spanish police Guardia Civil (Civil Guard), said the justice spokesman. It is responsible, among other things, for economic crimes and had searched the RFEF offices in Madrid and, among other things, Rubiales’ home in Granada the day before as part of investigations that began in 2022. The UCO can arrest people, which then has to be confirmed by a court, the spokesman explained.
Spanish media reported that Rubiales was supposed to have been arrested in the raids the day before. Rubiales only escaped because he was abroad, reported the state TV station RTVE, the radio station Onda Cero and newspapers such as “El País”, “Mundo Deportivo” and “AS”.
The previous day, according to a report by Onda Cero, two RFEF officials, two representatives of a law firm and a building contractor had already been arrested in connection with the searches. There is another suspect who is also in the Dominican Republic with Rubiales. In a statement, the RFEF promised full cooperation with the authorities.
According to RTVE, the raids targeted several agreements and contracts concluded by the RFEF during the five-year term of office of Rubiales, who resigned as head of the association in September in the wake of the kissing scandal. Among these contracts was the awarding of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, which Rubiales concluded in collaboration with the former Barcelona professional and current businessman Gerard Piqué. The suspected crimes include corruption in business transactions, unfair administration and money laundering.
Rubiales resigned from his position as RFEF president in September after he kissed international player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth following Spain’s World Cup victory in Australia last summer, sparking global outrage. Among other things, he was banned for three years by the world association Fifa. Rubiales is also under criminal investigation in Spain over the incident.
