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Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales to resign over kiss incident at FIFA Women's World Cup
Luis Rubiales is set to face the FIFA disciplinary panel for his lip kiss to Spain's player Jenni Hermoso.
As per latest reports, Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales is expected to resign after FIFA opened a disciplinary case against him on Thursday. Rubiales is set to face the FIFA disciplinary panel for his lip kiss to Spain's player Jenni Hermoso during the trophy and medal ceremony after the country's historic victory as FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Champion.
The kiss controversy has caused much uproar in Spain and across the world, with many fans and experts including former football players deeming Rubiales' actions as "completely unacceptable".
FIFA's disciplinary committee is ascertaining if Rubiales violated "the basic rules of decent conduct” and “behaved in a way that brings the sport of football and/or FIFA into disrepute.”
Earlier, FIFA had condemned Rubiales' actions and said, “FIFA reiterates its unwavering commitment to respecting the integrity of all individuals and strongly condemns any behavior to the contrary.”
Rubiales had even released a public video apology but calls for his dismissal only gained strength.
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Meanwhile, reacting to the kissing incident, Hermoso had called the moment a "natural gesture of affection".
"It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings," said Hermoso, in comments passed to AFP by the Spanish federation.
On Wednesday, Hermoso released a joint statement with union Futpro which demanded punishment against Rubiales.
"We are working to ensure that acts such as those we have seen never go unpunished, that they are sanctioned and that the exemplary measures are adopted to protect women footballers from actions that we believe are unacceptable," the statement said.
Rubiales has been inviting various controversies since becoming president of the RFEF in May 2018. When the head coach of women's team, Jorge Vilda got embroiled in a controversy with 15 female players, Rubiales supported the coach.
Notably, in the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, Spain defeated England 1-0. Spain's Olga Carmona had scored the lone goal of the match in the 29th minute.
