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One week after the president of the Spanish soccer federation kissed a player during the Women’s World Cup awards ceremony, his reputation is in tatters and he's out of his job. Luis Rubiales, whose leadership of Spanish soccer had already been marked by successes tinged with scandal, wrecked his career by offending millions worldwide with his conduct at the final in Sydney, Australia, when he also grabbed his crotch in a victory gesture. “Rubiales cannot run Spanish soccer again,” Spanish minister María Jesús Montero said Sunday, a day after he was provisionally suspended by FIFA for 90 days. “We had enough of him when he marred the great triumph of women’s soccer with his intolerable attitude.” Rubiales was replaced by his vice president Pedro Rocha, who will act as interim chief in his absence. Rocha is considered to be a confidant of Rubiales. Rocha has called an emergency meeting of the soccer federation's regional heads to discuss the crisis on Monday, when women’s groups will rally in downtown Madrid in support of forward Jenni Hermoso, who was kissed on the lips by Rubiales after Spain's 1-0 win over England in the final. FIFA moved against Rubiales after he refused to step down and defiantly told an emergency assembly of his federation on Friday that he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.” On a day that will go down as one of the ugliest in Spanish soccer, Rubiales said that Hermoso had consented to the “mutual” kiss. Hermoso replied in two statements to say that was false and that she considered herself the victim of an abuse of power. She also accused the federation of trying to pressure her into supporting Rubiales. The federation hit back by saying she was lying and that it would take legal action against her. As part of his suspension of Rubiales, FIFA disciplinary judge Jorge Palacio ordered Rubiales and the federation not to contact Hermoso. Spain’s government is also pursuing his permanent removal in Spain’s Administrative Court for Sports. The court will meet in the coming week to consider the government’s lawsuit for an alleged abuse of power and for allegedly committing acts that tarnished the dignity and decorum of a sporting event. If found guilty, Rubiales could be ruled unfit to hold office. Spain great Andrés Iniesta, a 2010 World Cup winner, said “after what has happened this week I would like to express my sadness, as a person, as a father of three girls, as a husband and as a soccer player. “We have had to bear this president who clung to power, didn’t admit that his behavior had been unacceptable and was damaging the image of our country and our soccer before the world,” Iniesta said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Rubiales' behavior has tarnished not only the greatest feat of Spanish women’s soccer, it has also torn apart his federation. The only public support Rubiales has received came during Friday’s general assembly when he was applauded several times by parts of the mostly male crowd, which was made up of regional federation officials, coaches, referees and players from lower divisions. But his refusal to go quietly led to some resignations from his board, including the vice president in charge of women’s soccer. The federation will also keep open its own internal probe into the incident as part of its sexual violence protocol. Those who applauded his diatribe included women’s coach Jorge Vilda — Hermoso's coach — and Spain’s men’s coach Luis de la Fuente. But once FIFA took down Rubiales, it took only hours for both coaches to issue statements sanctioning their now former boss. Rubiales is a 46-year-old former player who headed a players’ union – which this week joined the chorus demanding his resignation – before he was elected to run the federation in 2018. He has not shied away from controversy since, but has shored up internal support by boosting revenues. Rubiales made 339,000 euros ($365,000) in 2021 after taxes, for presiding over the federation with a budget of 382 million euros ($412 million). The federation runs Spain’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams and its semi-professional and amateur soccer leagues. It also organizes the referees. The government maintains some oversight of the entity but it cannot name or remove its executives. Weeks after becoming the most powerful man in Spanish soccer, Rubiales showed he wouldn’t tolerate any act that he considered disloyal when he fired the coach of Spain’s men’s team just two days before its first match at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Julen Lopetegui had just agreed to join Real Madrid after the tournament, but Rubiales felt he had betrayed the national team and dismissed him. Rubiales revolutionized the Spanish Super Cup in 2019 by expanding it from two to four teams and taking it to Saudi Arabia – now the big draw for top European talent like Cristiano Ronaldo – in exchange for 40 million dollars a year. The clubs and federation loved the cash, but the move was criticized by women’s and human rights groups for the regime’s treatment of women and minorities. Spanish authorities also scrutinized the deal, and an investigative judge is probing the legality of the Super Cup contracts. In part, Rubiales was tolerated because he was considered better than his predecessor, Ángel Maria Villar, who was in power for nearly three decades before he ended up behind bars for widespread corruption. Rubiales increased his hold on power by becoming a vice-president with UEFA, which has remained silent on the scandal. Rubiales was spearheading what promised to be his greatest prize: a joint bid to host the 2030 men’s World Cup with Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine. But it seems the greatest sporting achievement of Spanish soccer under his watch has led to his downfall – unless he can successfully fight against both FIFA and Spain’s government. Not only were his actions deemed out of line, his erratic handling of the scandal — which swerved from insulting his critics, to an awkward apology, and eventually his tirade against feminism — did him in. The response from Spanish society has been overwhelmingly supportive of Hermoso and against Rubiales. Her Spain teammates, along with more than 50 others women players, said they would not play for Spain as long as he remains. Messages in support of the player and condemning Rubiales have poured in from Spanish and foreign players, the most powerful soccer clubs – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, among others – and from political parties from the far left to the center right. “Luis Rubiales is finished,” the president of Spain’s women’s league, Beatriz Álvarez, told The Associated Press. “He has dug his own grave with his acts and his words.” ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer ___ AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Uefa rejects Spanish expulsion plea as Luis Rubiales crisis takes bizarre new twist Luis Rubiales’ mother locks herself in church and goes on hunger strike Luis Rubiales news LIVE: Police investigate president for alleged sexual assault

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Uefa will take no action on an astonishing request by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to be expelled over the Luis Rubiales crisis, as the federation president now faces an investigation from Spanish prosecutors for sexual assault. In other developments of a story that even Uefa officials were describing as “absurd” and “stranger by the moment”, Rubiales’ mother Angeles Bejar locked herself in a church to go on hunger strike, with police and doctors eventually intervening. Such details have stunned even the most experienced people in football, but it is the request to the European body that is being seen as the most significant, given it sums up how surreal the story has become. With Rubiales facing a series of official complaints and a government process that could yet see him banned from sport in Spain for two to 15 years – to go with his current 90-day suspension from Fifa – the federation sent a request to Uefa to be expelled for breaking Uefa’s own statutes on state interference. Expulsion would mean clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona kicked out of European competitions such as the Champions League. The move has been interpreted as “bluster” and “brinkmanship” by the federation in order to support Rubiales, but it would still involve all of Spain’s club and national teams being removed from competition, denying them of income and – in the words of one – “setting Spanish football back years”. The Independent has been told that Uefa will not take action and that the government’s involvement does not meet the criteria for state interference. Victor Francos, the president of Spain’s Higher Council for Sport who has become a central figure in this situation, stated on Monday that all of the relevant bodies are “acting within the regulations as they stand”. Rubiales being punished according to regulations and rules is different to the government just ousting him, which it cannot do, and has created an almost Kafkaesque circus over what remains a serious issue. Underpinning it all has been this Spanish government’s willingness to take on issues of equality and sexual harassment. On that, the Spanish Prosecutors Office will ask Jenni Hermoso if she wishes to press charges against Rubialies, after she stated that the kiss was not consensual. It was that statement which led Rubiales’ mother to go on hunger strike in a church in his home town in Montril, demanding that Hermoso “tell the truth” about the incident. There have also been public accusations from one of Rubiales’ cousins that the Spanish midfielder changed her story – something that did not happen. All of this comes amid Fifa’s directive that Rubiales not contact Hermoso or her family, to go with the 90-day suspension. Spain's Administrative Court for Sports has meanwhile been meeting all Monday to examine four complaints against Rubiales. Should it decide to open proceedings, it could mean the official is suspended for even longer than Fifa's 90-day provisional punishment. In that event, the Spanish government has confirmed it would take action. “If the court upholds the complaint and begins to process that case, we can request the provisional suspension of the president of the RFEF until TAD finishes analysing it and takes their decision,” Sports Minister Miquel Iceta said on Friday. Also on Monday morning, Spanish player’s union Futpro – representing Jenni Hermoso – further clarified Hermoso’s stance while describing a “structural problem” in the Spanish federation. “Those who applauded Rubiales, [at the assembly] in my opinion, should not continue in their positions.” While Rubiales’ position as vice-president of Uefa has itself led to criticism of the European body for a lack of comment, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has been in constant contact with Fifa. The position is that since the events fall under the disciplinary jurisdiction of Fifa – because the World Cup was a Fifa event – it was agreed that Fifa’s disciplinary bodies would handle the case, something Uefa does not feel it should comment on. The global football representative body FifPro is meanwhile yet to receive an official response from Uefa to a letter sent on Friday requesting disciplinary action against Rubiales. Read More Luis Rubiales’ mother locks herself in church and goes on hunger strike Luis Rubiales news LIVE: Police investigate president for alleged sexual assault Spanish FA launch ‘sexual violence protocol’ against Rubiales ahead of urgent meeting Spanish football’s ‘MeToo moment’ is a mirror for the entire game Spain coaching team quits over Luis Rubiales row – but manager backs president Fifa suspends Luis Rubiales and coaching staff walk out over World Cup kiss row

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The Spanish Football Federation (Rfef) is set to hold an ‘extraordinary and urgent’ meeting today after president Luis Rubiales was suspended by Fifa for kissing Women’s World Cup winner, Jenni Hermoso, on the lips in an act the footballer says she did not consent to. Rubiales sparked controversy with his actions towards Hermoso after Spain won the World Cup last week. The 46-year-old has repeatedly refused to take responsibility for his actions blaming a “false feminism” witchhunt for the criticism levelled at him and vowed he would fight to clear his name in court if necessary. Fifa have banned Rubiales from all football-related activity for 90 days over his conduct and have launched an investigation into his behaviour. The Spanish FA president is also not allowed to contact Spanish midfielder Hermoso or those close to her after she released a statement condemning the Rfef’s pressuing actions since the incident occured. Following his refusal to resign, the Spanish women’s national team signed a letter stating their intent not to play for the country until Rubiales is removed from his role and the coaching staff - excepting manager Jorge Vilda - have all walked out. Follow all the latest updates as the Spanish Football Federation deal with the latest fallout from Luis Rubiales’ actions: Read More One week after sullying the Women's World Cup, Luis Rubiales is now a Spanish soccer outcast Spanish FA launches ‘sexual violence protocol’ against Luis Rubiales ahead of urgent meeting Punishing the World Cup kiss sends an important message about sexism in football