Key Points
- Spain’s former football boss Luis Rubiales has been banned from all football-related activities for three years.
- Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final, which she said was not consensual.
- The former Spanish football president isn’t the first official to be barred by the sport’s governing body.
FIFA has banned former from all football-related activity for three years.
Rubiales on the lips during the trophy presentation after Spain’s victory over England in August’s Women’s World Cup final, but Hermoso said the kiss was not consensual.
While Rubiales initially tried to carry on in his role, he resigned last month. FIFA had been investigating if Rubiales violated “basic rules of decent conduct” and “[behaved] in a way that brings the sport of football and/or FIFA into disrepute”.
Rubiales, who is facing charges of sexual assault and coercion in Spain over the kiss on Hermoso, has said he will appeal FIFA’s decision.
He is not the first person to be banned by football’s governing body, so how does his punishment compare to others?
Who else has FIFA banned?
In 2015, a number of FIFA officials were involved in a corruption scandal, including former FIFA president Sepp Blatter – along with former vice president Michel Platini and former secretary general Jérôme Valcke.
Valcke was banned from all football-related activity for 10 years, while Blatter and Platini were banned for eight years, and later had their bans reduced to six.
In a subsequent investigation in 2021, Blatter and Valcke were found guilty of “various violations” of the FIFA code of ethics.
FIFA said the investigation into the two covered various charges, including bonus payments in relation to competitions that were paid to top officials, various amendments and extensions of employment contracts.
In the case of Valcke, reimbursements of private legal costs were also investigated.
Blatter and Valcke were both sanctioned with bans from all football-related activity at both national and international levels for a period of six years and eight months on top of their existing bans.
They were both fined 1,000,000 Swiss francs ($1,741,008).
What has FIFA said about Luis Rubiales?
Rubiales was already provisionally suspended with the Hermoso kiss one of three incidents cited.
The others related to “grabbing his crotch/genitals in the VIP area” as a victory gesture with Queen Letizia of Spain and 16-year-old Princess Sofía standing nearby, and “carrying the Spanish player Athenea del Castillo over his shoulder during the post-match celebrations”.
“The FIFA disciplinary committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the FIFA disciplinary code,” Monday’s statement read.
“This case relates to the events that occurred during the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on 20 August 2023, for which Mr Rubiales had been provisionally suspended for an initial period of 90 days.”
“FIFA reiterates its absolute commitment to respecting and protecting the integrity of all people and ensuring that the basic rules of decent conduct are upheld.”
