Spain Moves to Suspend Football Chief Rubiales Over World Cup Kiss

(Bloomberg) — The Spanish government is moving to suspend the head of the country’s football federation with immediate effect following widespread criticism of his behavior during the celebrations for the country’s Women’s World Cup victory last weekend.

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The government’s sports council — which oversees the nation’s sports associations — said it planned to send two complaints against Luis Rubiales, the federation president, to a court of arbitration and will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. local time to discuss the affair. Once the court receives the documentation for review, the council can technically suspend him.

At an extraordinary meeting of the federation on Friday, Rubiales repeatedly insisted that he doesn’t intend to resign over the incident, in which he grabbed Jennifer Hermoso, a star Spanish player, and kissed her on the lips.

The 46-year-old has also faced a backlash for grabbing his crotch while celebrating a goal in the director’s box during the match, where he was standing next to Spain’s Queen Letizia and one of her daughters.

The federation chief’s conduct is “completely incompatible with his role representing Spanish sports and with the values of a developed society such as Spain,” the sports council, which is chaired by the government’s secretary of state for sports, said in a statement.

Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero posted a statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, saying Spain “no longer accepts sexist attitudes nor allows women to be denigrated.”

Hermoso initially said in a video posted on her Instagram feed that she “did not enjoy” the kiss. A subsequent statement sent by the federation to the news agency EFE quoted her as saying that “it was a mutual gesture, totally spontaneous because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings.”

Rubiales said Friday that the kiss was consensual as he had asked Hermoso’s permission and she had agreed.

“Fake feminism doesn’t seek justice or truth, doesn’t care about people,” he said, adding that he feels like a victim of “a social execution.”

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