Spanish football federation President Luis Rubiales refuses to resign over World Cup kiss controversy
Head of the Spanish Football federation, Luis Rubiales, who came under fire after he grabbed and kissed a member of Spain’s women team that won the World Cup during the medals ceremony in Australia, has refused to resign.
The forced kiss on Jennifer Hermoso overshadowed Spain’s first-ever Women’s World Cup title.
Since Rubiales became a national embarrassment, criticism and calls for him to go have mounted day after day, with Spain’s acting prime minister, players’ unions, and finally voices from inside men’s soccer saying he must go. The only relevant institution to remain silent has been European soccer body UEFA, for which Rubiales is a vice president.
Rubiales’ exit was expected to be made official at the extraordinary general assembly meeting on Friday, August 25, a meeting that was called late Tuesday to address the incident. A crisis meeting was held in Madrid on Wednesday to discuss his successor, according to ESPN, and Pedro Rocha, head of the Extremadura football federation had been expected to be handed the job. Instead, Rubiales surprised everybody when he took to the podium.
He said “I’m not going to resign, I’m not going to resign, I’m NOT going to resign, I’m NOT going to resign, I’m not going to resign.”
'I will not resign!' 📣
Luis Rubiales passionately refuses to step down as president of the Spanish FA ❌
He's faced criticism for kissing forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain's World Cup win.#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/OnxlFbwpv9
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 25, 2023
Amid a loud applause from some and silence from others, he added “I will fight this to the end”, accusing his critics of “false feminism.”
Among those who applauded his decision to cling to power were women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda and men’s national team coach Luis de la Fuente.
Not only did Luis Rubiales refuse to resign, he also offered embattled coach Jorge Vilda the promise of a new four-year contract despite a protracted dispute between Vilda and his players.
Spain’s Higher Council of Sports, the nation’s governing sports body, responded to Rubiales on Friday by saying it was immediately referring the complaints it has received from two federation assembly members, Spain’s women’s league and Díaz’s political party to Spain’s Administrative Court for Sports. Rubiales could be deemed unfit to hold office if the court finds that he violated laws or regulations sanctioning sexist acts.
