Spain’s controversial association boss Luis Rubiales has announced his resignation. The Spanish Football Association confirmed this on Monday morning. Three weeks after the scandalous final of the Women’s World Cup, in which Spain won the title, Rubiales said in a statement that it was “obvious” that he would not be able to return to work. He therefore threw in the towel. Rubiales also announced that he would resign from his position as vice-president of the European football union Uefa. He reported this to the acting head of the Spanish association, Pedro Rocha, in writing on Sunday evening.
Rubiales came under fire on the evening of the World Cup final after pictures showed him kissing one of the world champions, Jenni Hermoso, on the mouth. Hermoso later explained that this had been done without her consent and filed a complaint; Rubiales also maintained on Sunday that she agreed. In addition, pictures were made public in which he could be seen vehemently grabbing his genitals in the official gallery – in close proximity to Spanish Queen Letizia.
In his first statements, he dismissed critics as humorless and “stupid” people. A half-hearted attempt at an apology failed. He did not comply with the increasingly loud demands for his resignation from sports, politics and the media until Sunday evening.
As a result of the affair, Rubiales was banned for 90 days by the world association FIFA, the Spanish public prosecutor’s office is investigating Rubiales for an alleged sexual assault, and the Spanish government pushed for his removal. Rubiales declared that he would do everything he could “so that the truth prevails.”
Rubiales was elected to head the Spanish association in 2018. Even before the “kissing affair,” his more than five-year term in office was overshadowed by a series of corruption allegations. Rubiales said he had recently fallen victim to an excessive campaign controlled by “de facto forces” that made his return to office impossible. He hopes that his resignation will give Spain’s association the stability that will lead to the success of its bid to host the 2030 Men’s World Cup.
