Luis Rubiales, former head of Spanish football, is arrested

Luis Rubiales, the disgraced former Spanish footballer who was forced to leave after kissing a female player against her will, is facing fresh legal trouble after Spanish police were allowed to arrest him as part of a wide-ranging allegations investigation of corruption and money. money laundering.

Spanish Civil Guard investigators carried out a series of raids on Tuesday, including searches of the Spanish football federation’s headquarters on the outskirts of Madrid and a house owned by Mr Rubiales in the southern city of Granada.

The public prosecutor’s office in Madrid said 11 houses and a number of other buildings had been searched as part of an investigation into what it described as “alleged criminal acts linked to corporate corruption, dishonest governance and money laundering.”

Seven people were arrested on Tuesday, but Mr Rubiales was not among them. He was in the Dominican Republic but is expected to return to Spain on April 6, according to a letter sent to the president by his lawyer. The Spanish Civil Guard has been authorized to arrest him upon arrival in Spain if necessary.

Mr. Rubiales’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Investigators are probing contracts linked to the federation’s sale of lucrative rights to a prominent football tournament, the Spanish Super Cup, to Saudi Arabia in a deal brokered by one of Spain’s most celebrated players, Gerard Piqué.

Mr. Rubiales is also under investigation over allegations of hiring detectives to spy on the head of Spain’s players’ union; misusing federal funds to pay personal expenses; And organizing a sex party – paid with federation funds – in Granada in 2020 – all claims that emerged after official complaints were filed with public prosecutors.

Mr Rubiales, once one of the most powerful men in world football, saw his career collapse as a result of his actions following Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final in Australia last year. In front of tens of thousands of fans at Sydney Stadium Australia and millions more watching on television, Rubiales planted an unwanted kiss on the mouth of Spanish midfielder Jennifer Hermoso on the medal stand.

The episode resulted in outrage in Spain and beyond a criminal complaint submitted by Ms. Hermoso weeks after the tournament. That complaint allowed the Spanish authorities to open a case against Mr. Rubiales, and in January they testified at the hearing to determine whether he would be charged with assault and coercion.

In January, a judge found sufficient evidence of misconduct to recommend that Mr. Rubiales stand trial over the kiss and subsequent coercion of Ms. Hermoso. If found guilty of sexual assault, he could be punished with a prison sentence of one to four years.

Mr Rubiales, who initially – and challenging – refused to give up his position as head of the Spanish federation amid the furor over the kiss, eventually resigning after being provisionally suspended by the world football governing body, FIFA. He was later excluded from the sport for three years.

Even before news that Mr. Rubiales could be arrested upon his return to Spain, it quickly became clear that he would be a central focus for investigators. Footage broadcast on Spanish television showed officers carrying a box with Mr Rubiales’ name among items seized from the Granada property.

The police operation was the latest twist in the stunning fall from grace of Rubiales, whose influence in football once extended beyond Spain’s borders. At the time of his resignation, just weeks before his FIFA ban, he was vice-president of UEFA, European football’s governing body, and one of the leaders of Spain’s bid to win the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco to organise.

But even before his ouster, he faced questions about his conduct. Bald and brash, Mr Rubiales first attracted international attention just months into his term as federation president when he sacked the men’s national coach just days before the first match of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

He later became involved in a years-long public feud with Javier Tebas, the equally outspoken president of Spain’s top football league, and was criticized for supporting Spain women’s coach Jorge Vilda amid the crisis. a rebellion by the team’s players.

In 2022, a leak of text and voice messages involving Mr. Rubiales and Mr. Piqué caught the attention of Spanish police for their mention of commissions paid to Mr. Piqué, then still an active player.

It was then that details emerged of the multi-year deal between the Spanish federation and Saudi Arabia, which would see the Gulf state pay 40 million euros (about $43 million) annually to host an expanded version of the Super Cup. The most stunning revelation was Mr. Piqué’s involvement, through his holding company Kosmos, in brokering the deal, and the commission — 10 percent, or just over $4 million a year — he would receive for his role.

Mr Piqué, who was a defender for Spanish club FC Barcelona, ​​​​and who was due to appear in the rescheduled event before his retirement at the end of 2022, denied wrongdoing at the time. It is unclear whether he will be questioned as part of the ongoing police investigation.

Another Spanish football official, Miguel Ángel Galán, who heads the country’s national training center for coaches, was the main complainant in the Super Cup investigation. In an interview with a Spanish television channel on Wednesday, Mr Galán, who denounced the Super Cup contracts and the commission paid to Mr Piqué in statements to prosecutors, demanded the money be returned.

The commission, Mr. Galán noted, was more than what at least one of the participating clubs earned.