The scandals of Luis Rubiales: the president with too many enemies

The non-consensual kiss to Jenni Hermoso after the women's soccer World Cup final, and the touching of the crotch in the box next to Queen Letizia and Infanta Sofía, is the latest scandal involving Luis Rubiales. It could have remained an anecdote (regrettable and unacceptable) if it weren't for the fact that Rubiales is a repeat offender and has been dogged by scandals since he was president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Until now, the son of the former mayor of Motril and employment delegate of the Junta de Andalucía in Granada has emerged unscathed from the previous incidents, some of them very serious and for which he is being judicially investigated. But it remains to be seen if he will also resist this time or, instead, he is forced to resign in the face of the wave of criticism unleashed, the numerous requests for resignation and the complaints filed before the Higher Sports Council (CSD) to be dismissed.

Luis Rubiales has been president of the RFEF since May 17, 2018 by obtaining an absolute majority in the vote of the General Assembly of the Federation where a replacement for the previous president, Ángel María Villar, had to be chosen. Two years later, Rubiales was re-elected for a second term (2020-2024) by achieving 95 votes in favor and 10 abstentions. Since then, the former soccer player born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and raised in Motril (Granada) has been dogged by scandals and controversies.

Already in his first year as president of the RFEF, Rubiales had to confront the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, and the media related to him, after the white club announced the hiring of the national coach, Julen Lopetegui, a few days before the debut of Spain in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Rubiales, who had asked Real Madrid to delay the announcement of the signing, proved to be a leader whose pulse did not tremble and dismissed Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup. That day he made some friends, but many enemies. With Fernando Hierro replacing Lopetegui, the team was eliminated in the round of 16.

The big scandal came in April 2022, when 'El Confidencial' published several leaked documents and audios that included 2019 conversations between Rubiales and Gerard Piqué in which both negotiated commissions related to the election of Saudi Arabia as the venue for the Super Cup of Spain. In addition to the payment of 24 million euros to Piqué's company (Kosmos) for bringing the Super Cup to Arabia, Rubiales himself received a percentage, in the form of variable remuneration, of the six million euros that the Federation earned in the operation.

Various organizations and political parties called for Rubiales' resignation, but the RFEF president described the information as "lies" and "falsehoods", denounced a plot to put an end to his "good management" and defined himself as "an honest uncle and fighter "That I was going to continue working for Spanish football. The manager received the support of the territorial federations, to which in 2020 he endowed 100,000 euros (each) to professionalize his management, and Rubiales remained at the helm of the RFEF, although he increasingly had more enemies.

One of Luis Rubiales' main rivals is the president of the Professional Soccer League (LFP), Javier Tebas, with whom he has been fighting to control Spanish soccer since the time when Rubiales was president of the Association of Spanish Soccer Players. (AFE). The rivalry between the two leaders began in 2015, when Tebas had been president of the League for two years and Rubiales called a strike by soccer players due to discrepancies in the distribution of television rights.

Since then, both leaders have exchanged numerous reproaches and accusations, and have made their confrontation public in press conferences or even on social networks. Tebas went so far as to say publicly that Rubiales was not qualified for the position of president of the RFEF shortly before he won the elections in 2018.

In September 2022, Rubiales' uncle and former chief of staff, Juan Rubiales, denounced before the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office that the president of the RFEF and his team organized a "party with 8 or 10 young girls" in August in a luxurious villa in Salobreña (Granada) that had been paid with money from the Federation.

In December, Rubiales and the managers who stayed in the Salobreña chalet informed the judge in the case of the reimbursement of the expenses derived from that controversial celebration that the RFEF described as an "internal work meeting" in the middle of August.

A judge from Majadahonda is investigating alleged irregularities committed within the RFEF since Rubiales was president of the federation. The magistrate, who has expanded her investigation to the agreement signed in 2019 between the RFEF and Saudi Arabia, has asked former FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué to hand over the contract he signed with the Federation to bring the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.

Rubiales, who is not contemplating resigning, has decided to get away from the noise for a few days and has taken refuge in his hometown (Motril) with his three daughters, the result of his marriage to the lawyer Manuela Delicado Vega, whom he divorced a few years ago. years. Given the numerous requests for resignation or dismissal, Rubiales only has to entrust himself once again to the territorial federations, which have transferred all their support to the president and have forced the RFEF to convene an Extraordinary General Assembly "as a matter of urgency".

It is expected that next Friday, starting at 12:00 at the Ciudad del Fútbol headquarters in Las Rozas (Madrid), the RFEF and the territorial federations that make it up will stage an image of unity around the figure of Luis Rubiales to try to stop the wave of criticism and end the controversy.

The Higher Sports Council (CSD) is the tool used by the Government to force the resignation or dismissal of Rubiales. The political formation led by Yolanda Díaz (Sumar) and the president of the National School of Soccer Coaches in Spain (Cenafe), Miguel Galán, have filed complaints with the CSD, which is currently analyzing these complaints.

Ireno Lozano, former president of the CSD and current director general of Casa Árabe, has called for the dismissal of Rubiales on her official Twitter account. "Rubiales is not going to resign, therefore, he can only be dismissed: For violating equality in sport. For seriously damaging the image of Spain. For pressuring and revictimizing Jenni Hermoso. For lying. The CSD can do it."

Ana Muñoz, former general director of the CSD, has assured that "the CSD Board of Directors can submit, without the need for any complaint, proposals for the disqualification of federation presidents when it considers that they have breached the sports regulations", of which there are precedents.

The Association of Spanish Soccer Players (AFE) has also demanded, through a statement, that the provisions of the Sports Law be applied with the president of the RFEF. The soccer players' union, of which Rubiales was president between 2010 and 2018, describes Jenni Hermoso's kiss on the mouth as an "unfortunate episode" and her behavior with "other colleagues from the Spanish National Team at the World Cup medal ceremony and the subsequent celebration.

The AFE denounces in its letter that "physical gestures directed towards any person, in this case a soccer player, are never appropriate or acceptable in any context without the pertinent consent of the affected person."

Former German soccer player Karlheinz Rummenigge, representative of the European Club Association (ECA), is one of the few who has come out in defense of Luis Rubiales. The former Bayern Munich CEO downplayed the 'stolen' kiss from Jenni Hermoso after the women's World Cup final. "I think we shouldn't exaggerate. When you're a world champion there are emotions and what he did, forgive me, it's something that's completely in order," said the German.