The scandal surrounding the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, suspended for 90 days by FIFA, continues to make waves.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Spanish striker Jenni Hermoso had made a statement to the police following the non-consensual kiss given by Rubiales, and that she would press charges against him for it.
Rubiales’ behavior ranged from pressuring Hermoso to appear in a video statement after the event, to posting false comments in her name, to accusing her of lying about the events.
The legal action brought against Rubiales will put an end to the sports sanctions which she could be subject to, the Ministry of Sports, represented by the Superior Council of Sports, demanding a suspension of up to two years. However, El Mundo revealed that the CSD had dismissed a complaint against Rubiales less than two years earlier for “abuse of power”.
The newspaper claims that some subordinates of then-CSD chief Jose Manuel Franco took the case to the Sports Court, accusing him of serious offences.
The case concerned television rights for women’s football, and Rubiales allegedly tried to change the destination of the rights for his benefit. He is also said to have withheld the public from certain teams in order to pressure them into accepting. Other CSD members felt it also jeopardized the integrity of the competition.
In December 2021, Franco ended up dismissing the case, blaming the infractions on “legal differences”. According to the newspaper, Franco did so to “maintain the balance of Spanish football”. He claims that members of the government did not want to dismiss or suspend Rubiales at the risk of handing over all the powers of Spanish football to La Liga president Javier Tebas.
