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.
“The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee … has decided today to provisionally suspend Mr Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international level,” FIFA said in a statement on Saturday.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee also ordered Rubiales and RFEF officials and employees alike to refrain from contacting or attempting to contact Hermoso or those around her.
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 Mr 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
(Al Jazeera)
