luis rubiales

Luis Rubiales Hit With Sexual Assault And Coercion Lawsuit

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Spanish prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against disgraced soccer president Luis Rubiales. Coming days after national team striker Jenni Hermoso pressed charges against Rubiales, the lawsuit accuses him of sexual assault and coercion. The assault charges stem from Rubiales kissing Hermoso on the mouth after Spain’s World Cup win last month. Meanwhile, the coercion charge stems from Hermoso’s claims that Rubiales and the federation pressured her into making a statement of support for Rubiales after public backlash emerged against him.

Furthermore, prosecutors have asked that Rubiales be compelled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing. If the National Court agrees to hear the case, their investigation will end with a recommendation of whether to take the case to trial or not. According to Spanish law, Rubiales could face up to two years in prison and up to two years of “professional suspension” if found guilty. However, he would likely avoid prison, as prison sentences in Spain are usually suspended if they are less than two years in length and the convicted individual does not have a prior criminal record. Furthermore, Rubiales is currently serving a 90-day suspension for the kiss, imposed by FIFA last month.

Read More: Spanish court ruling means Rubiales can’t be removed by the Spanish government

More Chaos For Spanish Football

However, the chaos is far from over in Spanish football. Earlier this week, the acting RFEF president fired Jorge Vilda, the head coach of the women’s national team. Players had been seeking the removal of Vilda since 2022, with 15 players boycotting the team in protest. Furthermore, Vilda was seen as a key Rubiales ally. When Rubiales made a speech refusing to resign, Vilda was seen applauding.

Meanwhile, the players in Liga F, Spain’s top-flight women’s professional league have officially gone on strike. The 2023-24 season was meant to start today (September 8). However, players have voted to strike after the RFEF refused to meet their demands regarding base salaries. Liga F became a professional league for the 2022-23 season, with a base salary of $17,100 euros. Players were seeking a base salary of $26,700 for this season and a guaranteed floor raise for next season. All of this comes as the federation attempts to repair its image, which has been completely trashed by Rubiales’ actions. This remains a developing story and we’ll have any updates as they emerge.

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Jenni Hermoso Files Sexual Assault Charges Against Spanish Soccer President Over World Cup Kiss

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Spanish international Jenni Hermoso has formally filed charges of sexual assault against Luis Rubiales, the embattled President of Spain’s soccer federation (RFEF). The charges come after Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips during on-field celebrations of Spain’s Women’s World Cup win last month. Rubiales has refused to resign over his behavior and has explicitly called the kiss consensual. Meanwhile, Hermoso refutes this, stating that the kiss was not consensual and that she was left feeling “vulnerable” and “assaulted”. Hermoso currently plays for Pachua in Mexico.

According to Spanish law, Rubiales could face up to two years in prison and up to two years of “professional suspension” if found guilty. However, he would likely avoid prison, as prison sentences in Spain are usually suspended if they are less than two years in length and the convicted individual does not have a prior criminal record. Furthermore, Rubiales is currently serving a 90-day suspension for the kiss, imposed by FIFA last month. Meanwhile, the Spanish government is seeking to remove him permenantly from the role.

Read More: Spanish court ruling means Rubiales can’t be removed by the Spanish government

Hermoso And Teammates Score Minor Victory

However, the chaos is far from over in Spanish football. Earlier this week, the acting RFEF president fired Jorge Vilda, the head coach of the women’s national team. Players had been seeking the removal of Vilda since 2022, with 15 players boycotting the team in protest. Furthermore, Vilda was seen as a key Rubiales ally. When Rubiales made a speech refusing to resign, Vilda was seen applauding.

“After everything that was achieved, after giving everything working, my conscience is clear: I have given 100% over 17 years and I do not understand [the decision], I did not deserve my sacking,” Vilda told Cadena Ser on Tuesday. “This team’s success will be valued more with time. I am left with the doubt over what the footballing criteria are that mean I am not continuing as coach. It is a strange situation. What hurts most is that my honour and behaviour are questioned. I will never applaud anything sexist, I will never applaud anything that goes against feminism, understood as the fight for equality.”

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Luis Rubiales Scandal: Court Ruling Prevents Government From Suspending Soccer President

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The case of Luis Rubiales, disgraced President of the Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF), continues to unfold across the country. The Spanish government had to admit temporary defeat after a court ruling stymied their plans to plans to remove Rubiales from his position. The Spanish Administrative Sports Court (TAD) ruled in favor of opening an investigation against Rubiales for his actions at the Women’s World Cup. However, TAD classified the breach of conduct as “severe” as opposed to “very severe”. This one-word difference means that the Spanish government is unable to suspend Rubiales from his position. However, they will still be able to remove him during the investigation.

“TAD only considers the [offences] serious. We believe that they are very serious. The Superior Sports Council itself could have directly suspended Mr. Rubiales if they were very serious. But as TAD have not qualified it as such, it is up to the court itself. We will file a request for them to take that position,” said Miquel Iceta, Spain’s minister of culture and sports during a press conference.

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Rubiales Takes Another Bizarre Turn

Ever since Rubiales refused to resign from office, the case has gotten progressively weirder. While he was provisionally suspended by FIFA, that did not quench the influence he had on the federation. His allies in the federation declared that Jenni Hermoso was deliberately and maliciously lying in a public statement. Furthermore, they also attempted to remove Spain from FIFA and UEFA jurisdiction. It is believed that this gambit was attempted in order to swing support back in favor of Rubiales by threatening the inclusion of Spanish clubs in continental competition.

Meanwhile, Rubiales’ mother, Ángeles Béjar, made headlines after locking herself in a church in her hometown and engaging in a hunger strike. She told reporters that she was fighting for justice for her son and would not eat until he was vindicated. This resulted in Béjar being admitted to hospital due to issues caused by the hunger strike. While she was soon discharged, it is unclear if she has continued the hunger strike. While the situation continues to unfold, a vast majority of the soccer world is standing behind Hermoso and the women’s team.

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Spanish Soccer President Refuses To Resign In Unhinged Rant

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It was believed that Luis Rubiales would resign as president of Spain’s soccer federation, RFEF, on August 25. This report, first released by ESPN on August 24, came as Rubiales continued to draw criticism for his behavior at the Women’s World Cup Final last week. He forcibly kissed midfielder Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth, grabbed his crotch in celebration while standing next to the Queen of Spain, and put striker Athenea del Castillo over his shoulder.

After originally calling his detractors “idiots”, Rubiales tendered an apology. However, calls for resignation quickly emerged. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Rubiales to resign, saying an apology was “insufficient and inadequate.” Meanwhile, the Minister for Equality Irene Montero called the kiss in particular “a form of sexual violence.” Many Spanish clubs also called for Rubiales’ resignation. Meanwhile, Hermoso released a statement with her union, saying “such acts should never go unpunished.” However, despite the ESPN report, Rubiales has doubled down and at the time of writing, remains in his position.

Read More: Spain’s World Cup hero learned of father’s death hours after the final

Rubiales Calls Kiss “Consensual”, Attacks “Fake Feminists”

“Let me tell you: I’m not going to resign. I’m not going to resign. I’m not going to resign,” Rubiales began. “I’ve come under a lot of pressure. But we live in a country of laws. Is a consensual kiss enough to remove me? I’m going to fight until the end. I hope the law is followed, and that as there’s no reason to…it won’t happen. My desire in that moment was exactly the same as if I’d have been kissing one of my daughters. No more or less…It was a spontaneous kiss, mutual, euphoric and consensual. That’s the key. In the moment that Jenni arrived, she lifted me up off the ground. We almost fell over. We hugged. I said, ‘Forget about the penalty, you’ve been fantastic, we wouldn’t have won the World Cup without you.’ She said: ‘You’re great.’ I said, ‘A kiss?’ and she said: ‘Yes.’”

Rubiales went on to say that “fake feminists” were attempting to “assassinate” him and specifically referred to the comments of Minister Montero. In response, the government is now seeking to suspend Rubiales. “The government starts today the procedure so that Mr Rubiales has to give explanations before the Sport Court and if the Sport Court agrees, I can announce that we will suspend Mr. Rubiales from his functions,” National Sports Council head Victor Francos told reporters. This is a developing story and we’ll have any updates as and when they emerge.

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Spanish Soccer President To Resign Following Launch Of FIFA Investigation

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Spain’s historic World Cup win against England last week was overshadowed by the behavior of their federation president, Luis Rubiales. Rubiales, who has headed RFEF since 2018 garnered outrage with a number of inappropriate behaviors during his World Cup celebrations. He forcibly kissed midfielder Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth, grabbed his crotch in celebration while standing next to the Queen of Spain, and put striker Athenea del Castillo over his shoulder. Images of Rubiales “celebrations” quickly went viral.

Despite calling his detractors “idiots”, the backlash was fierce and widespread. Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Rubiales to resign, saying an apology was “insufficient and inadequate.” Meanwhile, the Minister for Equality Irene Montero called the kiss in particular “a form of sexual violence.” The backlash was capped off by a joint statement from Hemoso and her union. In that statement, Hermoso said such acts “should never go unpunished.” This prompted FIFA to formally announce an investigation into Rubiales on August 24.

Read More: Spain’s World Cup hero learned of father’s death hours after the final

Rubiales Resigns

According to ESPN, Rubiales will formally resign on August 25. Despite his strong rejection of the criticism against him, his continued tenure as President of the federation quickly began to crumble. The favorites to succeed Rubiales are Pedro Rocha, head of the Extremadura football federation, and Pablo Lozano, head of the Andalusia federation. However, the resignation of Rubiales signals a much bigger shift in Spanish football beyond taking a stand against misogyny.

Rubiales has courted controversy at every turn since taking the job five years ago. He fired the men’s head coach the day before the 2018 World Cup began because the coach was set to leave the position after the tournament. He took a domestic cup tournament to Saudia Arabia in a deal with an active Spanish player. Furthermore, Rubiales’ uncle, the former director of his nephew’s cabinet, was accused of embezzling RFEF funds to use them on sex parties. In short, it took internationally-televised misogyny to remove a cancer from Spanish soccer.

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