FIFA bans former Spanish Football Federation president for 3 years

The International Football Federation on Monday banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, from the sport for three years over his forced kiss on a player after the Women’s World Cup final in August.

Mr. Rubiales kissed the player, Jennifer Hermoso, during the medal ceremony after the Women’s World Cup final on Aug. 20, a televised act that cast a shadow over the Spanish team’s celebrations, distracting from a proud national moment and a legacy of sexism in Spanish soccer. It also led to accusations in the days that followed that Mr. Rubiales and others at the federation pressured the player to say the kiss was consensual.

Ms. Hermoso instead filed a criminal complaint for sexual abuse, and Mr. Rubiales — who initially refused to step down — was provisionally suspended for 90 days while FIFA, the soccer governing body, investigated the incident. He resigned as head of the Spanish soccer federation less than a month after the final, under pressure from players who refused to take the field for the women’s national team.

On Monday, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee said that Mr Rubiales would be banned for three years from “all football-related activities at national and international level” for breaching the organisation’s disciplinary code through his actions after the final on 20 August. No further details were given of the findings, but it was said that Mr Rubiales could request them, after which a so-called reasoned decision would be made public.

Mr Rubiales can then appeal the case several times, first to a FIFA panel and then to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

In a statement on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter, Mr Rubiales rejected FIFA’s decision, saying: “I’m gonna fight.”

“I will go to the end, so that justice is done and the truth shines,” he added. “Despite the great effort of politicians, the media and institutions, the disproportionality and injustice that is being committed is becoming increasingly clear.”

Ms Hermoso and the Spanish women’s team have not yet commented.

Mr Rubiales has insisted he did nothing wrong during the medal ceremony, describing the kiss as a consensual “kiss,” and in an unrepentant speech at a federation meeting he argued he was the victim of “social murder” and “false feminism.”

Ms Hermoso and her teammates fought back just as forcefully, describing years of sexism and abuse by the country’s football association. They rejected any suggestion that the kiss, which took place just metres away from Queen Letizia of Spain, who was also attending the medal ceremony, was consensual.

After the Spanish Federation issued a statement on behalf of Ms. Hermoso, she responded with a statement of her own. “I want to make it clear that, as can be seen in the images, at no time did I consent to the kiss he gave me,” Ms. Hermoso wrote. “I will not tolerate that my word is questioned, let alone that they are made up words that I did not say.”

Ms. Hermoso has said she felt “vulnerable and the victim of an impulsive, sexist, misguided act without any consent on my part” — and that she was initially under pressure to downplay Mr. Rubiales’ actions.

In September, a court in Spain issued a restraining order prohibiting Mr Rubiales from coming closer than 200 metres to Ms Hermoso while the sexual abuse investigation continues.

Rachel Chaundler contributed to the reporting.