Outcast Rubiales delivers kiss of death to his career

BARCELONA — One week after the president of the Spanish soccer federation kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the Women's World Cup awards ceremony, his reputation is in tatters and he's out of his job.

Luis Rubiales, whose leadership of Spanish soccer had already been marked by successes tinged with scandal, wrecked his career by offending millions worldwide with his conduct at the final in Sydney, Australia, when he also grabbed his crotch in a victory gesture.

"Rubiales cannot run Spanish soccer again," Spanish minister Maria Jesus Montero said on Sunday, a day after he was provisionally suspended by FIFA for 90 days.

"We had enough of him when he marred the great triumph of women's soccer with his intolerable attitude."

FIFA moved against Rubiales after he refused to step down and defiantly told an emergency assembly of his federation on Friday that he was the victim of a "witch hunt" by "false feminists".

Rubiales was replaced by his vice-president, Pedro Rocha, who will act as interim chief in his absence. Rocha is considered to be a confidant of Rubiales.

On Monday, leading officials within the Spanish Football Federation asked Luis Rubiales to resign as president.

Prosecutors at Spain's top criminal court said Monday they had opened a preliminary investigation into the forcible kiss on the grounds that it could constitute a crime of "sexual assault".

His mother on Monday started a hunger strike in a church in southern Spain, demanding an end to "the bloody and inhumane hounding" of her son.

Rubiales said that Hermoso had consented to the "mutual" kiss. Hermoso replied in two statements to say that was false and that she considered herself the victim of an abuse of power. She also accused the federation of trying to pressure her into supporting Rubiales. The federation hit back by saying she was lying and that it would take legal action against her.

The Spanish government is also pursuing Rubiales' permanent removal in Spain's Administrative Court for Sports. The court will meet in the coming week to consider the government's lawsuit for an alleged abuse of power and for allegedly committing acts that tarnished the dignity and decorum of a sporting event. If found guilty, Rubiales could be ruled unfit to hold office.

Spain great Andres Iniesta, a 2010 World Cup winner, said "after what has happened this week I would like to express my sadness, as a person, as a father of three girls, as a husband and as a soccer player".

"We have had to bear this president who clung to power, didn't admit that his behavior had been unacceptable and was damaging the image of our country and our soccer before the world," Iniesta said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The only public support Rubiales has received came during Friday's general assembly when he was applauded several times by parts of the mostly male crowd, including Spain's women's team coach Jorge Vilda and the country's men's team coach Luis de la Fuente. But once FIFA took down Rubiales, it took only hours for both coaches to issue statements sanctioning their now former boss.

Rubiales is a 46-year-old former player who headed a players' union — which this week joined the chorus demanding his resignation — before he was elected to run the federation in 2018. He has not shied away from controversy since, but has shored up internal support by boosting revenues.

Rubiales made 339,000 euros ($365,000) in 2021 after taxes, for presiding over the federation with a budget of 382 million euros. The federation runs Spain's men's and women's national soccer teams and its semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. It also organizes the referees. The government maintains some oversight of the entity but it cannot appoint or remove its executives.

Weeks after becoming the most powerful man in Spanish soccer, Rubiales showed he wouldn't tolerate any act that he considered disloyal when he fired the coach of Spain's men's team just two days before its first match at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Julen Lopetegui had just agreed to join Real Madrid after the tournament, but Rubiales felt he had betrayed the national team and dismissed him.

Rubiales revolutionized the Spanish Super Cup in 2019 by expanding it from two to four teams and taking it to Saudi Arabia — now a destination for European talent like Cristiano Ronaldo — in exchange for $40 million a year. The clubs and federation loved the cash, but the move was criticized by women's and human rights groups. Spanish authorities also scrutinized the deal, and an investigative judge is probing the legality of the Super Cup contracts.

In part, Rubiales was tolerated because he was considered better than his predecessor, Angel Maria Villar, who was in power for nearly three decades before he ended up behind bars for widespread corruption.

Rubiales increased his hold on power by becoming a vice-president with UEFA, which has remained silent on the scandal. Rubiales was spearheading a joint bid to host the 2030 men's World Cup with Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine.

But it seems the greatest sporting achievement of Spanish soccer under his watch has led to his downfall — unless he can successfully fight against both FIFA and Spain's government.

Not only were his actions deemed out of line, his erratic handling of the scandal — which swerved from insulting his critics, to an awkward apology, and eventually his tirade against feminism — did him in.

The response from Spanish society has been overwhelmingly supportive of Hermoso and against Rubiales.

Her Spain teammates, along with more than 50 other women players, said they would not play for Spain as long as he remains.

Messages in support of the player and condemning Rubiales have poured in from Spanish and foreign players, the country's most powerful soccer clubs — Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, among others — and from political parties from the far left to the center right.

"Luis Rubiales is finished," the president of Spain's women's league, Beatriz Alvarez, told The Associated Press. "He has dug his own grave with his acts and his words."

Agencies via Xinhua