Nearly a week after Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final, the controversy over Luis Rubiales’ gesture continues to grow. During the medal ceremony, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) imposed a kiss on the player Jenni Hermoso. On Thursday August 24, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) opened disciplinary proceedings against him.
“These facts could constitute a violation of paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 13 of the FIFA disciplinary code”, specifies the world body. Dedicated to “discrimination”, the text to which FIFA refers punishes in particular the fact of “undermining the dignity or integrity” of a person “because of his sex” by a suspension “running over at least ten matches, or other appropriate disciplinary action”.
“FIFA reiterates its absolute commitment to respecting the integrity of all, and therefore strongly condemns any behavior that goes against this value,” added the press release from the body, which had remained silent until then. on this case. She did not give a timeline for her decision.
An extraordinary general meeting on Friday
Whatever the decision taken by the international federation, it may not have to decide on the continuation of Luis Rubiales, who arrived at the head of the federation in 2018. An extraordinary general meeting of the RFEF has indeed was convened on Friday to discuss this subject. For its part, the Professional Women’s Football League has already demanded the dismissal of the president of the Spanish federation.
After being massively relayed on social networks, the video of the medal presentation provoked a wave of reactions. On Tuesday, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, had thus described this forced kiss as “unacceptable”, judging that “the apologies [of Luis Rubiales] are insufficient”. The day before, Luis Rubiales had explained on X (formerly Twitter) that his gesture was “without bad intention in a moment of euphoria. Here, we experienced it as something natural, but outside, an agitation has formed. »
If he justified himself by highlighting “his magnificent relationship” with Jenni Hermoso, the player gave a different version. On Wednesday, it called for “exemplary measures” against its president, through a press release posted on social networks by the Futpro union, to “ensure the rights of players”.
