FIFA To Push For Spain’s FA President Luis Rubiales Banned

FIFA will press for the suspension of Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales from all football activity for 15 years after the Spanish federation reversed its support for him.

The Spanish FA ordered Rubiales, 46, to retire immediately, claiming that his ‘unacceptable’ behaviour had caused ‘severe injury to the image of Spanish football’.

FIFA threatened to ban Spain’s national teams and top clubs from international participation if the Spanish FA did not accept their sanction for Rubiales.

According to sources close to the disciplinary process, FIFA is aiming for a 15-year punishment for Rubiales, the maximum allowed by their laws. If the judgment had been challenged, they would have been able to take action against Spanish national teams and clubs.

Read Also: UEFA Slammed For Their Silence On Spain’s Luis Rubiales

Rubiales was given a 90-day interim suspension by FIFA last week, but he still has the support of the Spanish FA pending the outcome of an internal probe regarding his unusual behaviour in kissing Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s World Cup final triumph over England.

Following a five-hour meeting on Monday, August 28, the Spanish FA revealed that Rubiales had been requested to resign.

On Monday, it was revealed that one of Rubiales’ final acts before his suspension last Friday was to instruct the Spanish FA to write to UEFA, complaining about government interference and asking for the federation to be suspended, which would automatically bar their national teams and clubs from European competitions.

UEFA, on the other hand, turned down the request. The letter was deemed unlawful since Rubiales had since been replaced by an interim president, Pedro Rocha.

The Spanish FA, led by Rubiales, issued an explosive statement over the weekend in which they accused Hermoso of lying.

“The RFEF (Spanish FA) and the president will show each of the lies that are spread either by someone on behalf of the player or, if applicable, by the player herself,” it read. This was met with an indignant denial by Hermoso in her lengthy riposte.

Rubiales is expected to face a lengthy ban from FIFA after being embarrassed by his behaviour following the World Cup final in Sydney when he also grabbed his crotch just metres away from Spain’s Queen Letizia and her adolescent daughter.

The world governing body’s disciplinary committee gathered testimony from eyewitnesses before announcing Rubiales’ suspension ‘from all football-related activities at national and international level’ last week, and they have the authority to ban him from any engagement in the sport for 15 years.

If the Spanish FA refused to accept the ban, it would have been extended to all Spanish national teams and clubs competing in FIFA-affiliated competitions.