On Sunday night, Luis Rubiales announced that he would resign as president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) — 21 days after his unsolicited kiss on Jennifer Hermoso following Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final.
The pressure on Rubiales had been building since that night in Sydney, when he also grabbed his crotch in the stands while celebrating Spain’s win and hoisted another player, Athenea del Castillo, over his shoulders. Now he is finally gone, despite telling an RFEF assembly on August 25 “I’m NOT going to resign” five times.
So, what happened to change Rubiales’ mind? What’s next for the RFEF as it looks to move past this scandal? And will it be enough to convince Spain’s World Cup winners to return to the team after 81 players stood down from international duty last month?
The Athletic explains…
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How did we get to this point?
During the celebrations after Spain won the Women’s World Cup on August 20, then-federation president Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips, made inappropriate physical contact with multiple players from both Spain and England, and grabbed his crotch while celebrating beside Spain’s Queen Letizia and her daughter, Princess Sofia.
Rubiales and federation staff claimed that Hermoso had consented to the kiss immediately afterwards but on the team’s return from Australia the player said this was not true and that she had felt pressured to go along with her boss’ version of events. She and 80 other players announced they would not play for Spain until there were significant changes within the federation.
Rubiales apologised for grabbing his crotch but denied any wrong-doing and refused to resign during a speech given to the federation’s assembly on August 25, in which he claimed that Hermoso was part of a conspiracy to remove him from the position and threatened her with legal action. The following day, football’s world governing body FIFA provisionally suspended him from all football activity for 90 days.
Rubiales at the Women’s World Cup final (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images).
The Spanish government has since tried to have Rubiales removed completely, but the country’s Administrative Sports Court (TAD) rejected a proposal to do that from its High Council for Sport (CSD). So it appeared that Rubiales could potentially return to lead the federation in mid-November, until he himself ended this possibility with his resignation in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan on Sunday evening.
Hermoso has made an official complaint to Spanish prosecutors and on Monday a judge at the country’s national court officially started to gather evidence towards potentially bringing charges of sexual assault against Rubiales, which may still require input from the Australian judicial system.
What made Rubiales change his mind?
“My father, my daughters… I spoke with them. They know it’s not a question of me. And some friends, who told me: ‘Luis, now you have to focus on your dignity and get on with your life. If you don’t, you’re probably going to hurt people you love, and the sport you love.”
That was how Rubiales explained the decision to change his mind and resign in his interview on Sunday, 16 days after that speech at the RFEF headquarters.
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Spanish government figures and the CSD had called for his dismissal, followed by FIFA and eventually the RFEF’s regional leaders. The ban from football’s world governing body proved key given it threatened Spain’s chances of hosting the 2030 men’s World Cup with Portugal, Morocco and, potentially, Ukraine.
Rubiales, as president of the Spanish federation, has been the figurehead of the European-led bid for the World Cup, and was also a vice-president of European football’s governing body UEFA. So when UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called Rubiales’ behaviour “inappropriate” in an interview with L’Equipe, and his friend and supporter Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, joined those calling for him to resign, Rubiales was left with few allies.
Hermoso’s testimony was a turning point (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images,).
The ratification of Hermoso’s complaint before the Spanish public prosecutor’s office last Thursday then closed off any chance of a potential return to the federation. That meant prosecutors could present the complaint to national court judges with confidence they could charge Rubiales.
Who will replace Rubiales?
Within minutes of Rubiales’ resignation becoming public, the Spanish federation moved to organise elections to choose a new president to take charge for the remainder of Rubiales’ term (up to next summer’s Olympic Games).
This would mean the current members of the federation’s assembly, many of whom applauded Rubiales’ speech five days after the World Cup final, would get to choose who runs the federation for at least the next 12 months.
The importance of this was explained to The Athletic last week by Arantxa Uria, vice president of Spain’s Association of Women in Professional Sport, who described the federation’s “medieval” system of circular patronage.
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The Spanish government, however, would prefer a different route — wait until early 2024 to hold new elections. This would give them time to rewrite regulations within the country’s sports law which would change how federations are governed and presidents are chosen.
“The government wants structural change, evolution and changes to the electoral processes at the federation,” CSD president Victor Francos told radio station Cadena SER on Sunday evening. “We need to reflect to avoid the excesses of the past. But we are not going to interfere in its autonomy.”
Rocha (left) and Francos (right) after a meeting earlier this month (Photo By Carlos Lujan/Europa Press via Getty Images).
Acting federation president Pedro Rocha was handpicked by Rubiales to be his successor should he have to leave, just two days before the FIFA suspension was announced. Rocha’s most high-profile decision so far has been to remove Jorge Vilda as women’s national coach. But the federation’s two most influential power brokers — secretary general Andreu Camps and legal advisor Tomas Gonzalez Cueto — remain in place. A number of judicial investigations into the misuse of federation funds during recent years remain in action.
What’s next for Rubiales?
Rubiales faces a legal process in which Spanish prosecutors accuse him of sexual assault and coercion after his kiss on Hermoso and for allegedly pressuring her to appear in a video to explain the incident.
The prosecution could ask for a sentence of one to four years in prison for Rubiales on the charge of sexual assault, although his actions would fall within the minimum range and the jail sentence could be replaced by a fine. This would be the most likely outcome given Rubiales has no known previous convictions.
Spain’s TAD had already launched an investigation into Rubiales after considering the CSD’s complaint to be “serious” rather than “very serious” and could disqualify him from being president for two years. But that process has been suspended until a judge makes a decision on whether Rubiales committed a crime.
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If Rubiales is not suspended for either of those reasons, UEFA or FIFA could disqualify him for a longer period of time.
In theory, Rubiales could run for re-election if he is not disqualified but the ex-RFEF president referred to “powers that will prevent my return” in his statement on Sunday night.
Will this be a big enough change to get the World Cup winners back?
It is still unclear whether this will be enough to bring back the 81 Spain players who said they would “not return to the national team if the current leadership continues”. In Rubiales and Vilda, two of that leadership’s most important figures are now gone.
While the structural changes the players demanded go beyond just two people, the players see those exits as significant. In recent weeks, some members of players’ entourages and some of the players who signed the letter themselves told The Athletic they were pessimistic about the prospect of Vilda and Rubiales leaving.
Spain’s World Cup winners wrote a letter standing down from international duty until significant changes were made (Photo By Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images).
Vilda has been replaced by his long-time assistant Montse Tome, which is not what the players expected after they had called for managers with more experience such as Levante coach Jose Luis Sanchez Vera and Mexico boss Pedro Lopez. But they are aware that it is difficult for big changes to be made in the short term given their first Nations League game is scheduled to take place against Sweden in Gothenburg on September 22.
Those in the players’ entourages, who will remain anonymous to protect relationships, say they have not decided what to do, but there are meetings scheduled to take place on Tuesday with the World Cup winners and the RFEF. The federation will explain their plans for the women’s national team with Tome in charge and interim president Rocha at the helm. The players will make a decision after hearing what the RFEF has to say.
What are the long-term effects of the scandal?
At a national level, the CSD is considering changing sports laws again to take power away from the sports federations — the last one was published at the end of last year after 32 years without modifications.
But another issue of even greater concern to those at Spain’s High Council for Sport is the country’s joint bid for the 2030 World Cup. CSD president Francos has been in contact with FIFA executives, including its president Gianni Infantino, to try and clarify the situation and avoid any further reputational damage.
While the Rubiales scandal has painted Spain in a bad light ahead of that bid, sources consulted by The Athletic are confident that the latest developments — including Rubiales stepping down — offer positives that will help calm the situation.
Additional reporting: Laia Cervelló Herrero
(Top photos: Getty Images)
