Facing mounting pressure from FIFA and Spain’s government, Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales will resign from his post on Friday, according to ESPN. Rubiales came under fire multiple times in the days following Spain’s 1-0 win over England last weekend to capture the Women’s World Cup. Immediately after the win, he made an obscene gesture in front of the Queen and Princess of Spain, who were there to support the team.
Then, during the medal ceremony, Rubiales forcibly kissed midfielder Jennifer Hermoso and joked about marrying her.
Rubiales issued an apology earlier this week, but Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez deemed the apology “inadequate and insufficient” and FIFA announced earlier Thursday they would be opening disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales.
Rubiales has had no shortage of controversy of late, coming under fire in 2022 for insulting certain Spanish soccer clubs on a leaked WhatsApp message. He also sued Wikipedia in 2022, demanding the removal of any information that may harm his reputation.
Rubiales also supported Spain head coach Jorge Vilda in 2022 following a report that Spanish National Team players wanted the coach to resign given poor coaching in the 2022 Euros and poor treatment of players. Vilda refused to resign and Rubiales and the Federation supported him, leading to just three players from the Euros returning to the team for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
[ESPN]
