Rubiales announces his resignation

The suspended head of the Spanish Football Association, Luis Rubiales, has announced that he will resign after the scandal surrounding his kiss. He said this in an interview with Piers Morgan. Rubiales said he “couldn’t continue,” as Spanish and British media reported on Sunday evening. “El Mundo” also quoted a statement in which Rubiales conveyed his resignation to the interim president of the Spanish Football Association RFEF, Pedro Rocha.

“Insisting, waiting and clinging to it will not achieve anything positive, neither for the association nor for Spanish football. “Among other things, because there are powers that will prevent my return,” Rubiales wrote in the statement.

He also once again defended himself against what he calls “excessive persecution” and the “many untruths” from which his family suffered. “But it is also true that the truth on the streets is being enforced more and more every day,” he wrote.

Pressure on Rubiales has recently increased

After Spain’s victory at the World Cup, he kissed player Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth. Rubiales had denied his guilt and spoke of a “consensual kiss”.

Recently, the pressure on the head of the association had increased significantly: the Spanish Football Association had asked the 46-year-old to resign. A few days ago, the affected player Hermoso filed a complaint against Rubiales.

The public prosecutor’s office of the National Court of Justice in Spain opened a preliminary investigation against Rubiales for alleged sexual assault at the end of August. Hermoso was then given 15 days to “be informed of her rights as a victim of an alleged sexual assault” and, if necessary, “to file a report,” the authority announced.

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The former professional footballer Rubiales has been president of the Spanish football association RFEF since May 2018. At the end of August, the world football association FIFA imposed a temporary suspension on him.