FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee has provisionally suspended Spanish football federation (RFEF) head Luis Rubiales for 90 days, it said, amid uproar after he grabbed player Jenni Hermoso’s head and kissed her on the lips after Spain’s victory at the Women’s World Cup.
Rubiales had been expected to announce his resignation on Friday but instead said he would not step down, and the RFEF threatened legal action to defend him after Hermoso said she did not consent to the kiss he gave her.
FIFA’s suspension of Spanish federation (RFEF) president Rubiales will last 90 days, while they undertake disciplinary proceedings against the 46-year-old.
They added that both Rubiales and the RFEF are prohibited from contacting Hermoso and those close to her.
FIFA’s move was the latest development in a deepening row between Rubiales and the RFEF and Hermoso and her Spain teammates which the players say has tarnished the glory of their World Cup win in Australia last Sunday.
Hermoso said in a statement on Friday says that Rubiales and the federation put “continuous pressure” on her and her family and friends to make her appear alongside Rubiales in a video in which he apologised for his kiss, but she declined.
The Spanish national team that won the World Cup, as well as several other players, have said they would not play international matches while Rubiales remains head of the federation.
“The decision adopted by the chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has been communicated today to Luis Rubiales, the RFEF and [European football body] UEFA for due compliance.”
There was no immediate reaction from the RFEF.
FIFA had already said earlier this week that it had launched an ethics probe against Rubiales. Further information on the proceedings will not be provided “until a final decision has been taken”, FIFA said.
Rubiales is also a vice president of UEFA, holding the number-three-ranking elected position at the top of the European football body, which pays him 250,000 euros ($270,000) annually plus expenses.
He was elected to the executive committee by UEFA member federations in 2019 and was within weeks promoted to the vice presidency by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. Neither UEFA nor Ceferin have commented on the Rubiales scandal this week.
