RFEF
Spanish Football Federation calls for the resignation of President Rubiales for his behavior towards Jenni Hermoso
The RFEF have demanded that Rubiales step down after the incident in which he forcefully kissed Jenni Hermoso following Spain’s World Cup success.
The leading voices of Spain’s Territorial Presidents’ Committee, the regional groups of football governance in the country, have issued a statement calling for “Luis Rubiales [to] present his resignation as president of the RFEF immediately”.
The first move from Pedro Rocha as the interim head of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) was to call an emergency meeting on 28 August in which the presidents of the regional federations across Spain were in attendance.
“This has to radically change”, said Paco Diez, the president of the Madrid region. On the table were a multitude of topics to discuss: the future of the RFEF, Luis de la Fuente and Jorge Vilda’s futures, RFEF elections, the potential dismissal of Secretary General Andreu Camps; it was such a long meeting that not everything was able to be discussed.
More controversy:
After over 6 hours deliberating in the Las Rozas Training Camp in northern Madrid, the Territorial Presidents’ Committee, through an official statement published by the RFEF, demanded: the immediate resignation of the currently suspended Luis Rubiales, a request for a restructuring of the organisation, an urgent retraction of the report against UEFA for government intervention and highlight their backing of Pedro Rocha as the person to lead to long process that lies ahead as the RFEF tries to rebuild bridges across Spain and the world.
Will Luis de la Fuente and Jorge Vilda be sacked?
The dismissal of Andreu Camps, Secretary General and right-hand man to Rubiales, was not spoken about during the meeting. There was also no decision taken regarding the futures of Luis del la Fuente and Jorge Vilda, with the committee preferring to make those decisions at a later date sometime next week.
As a result, Luis de la Fuente will be able to reveal his squad list this Friday for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifier games against Georgia and Cyprus. On the other hand, according to Spanish radio station SER, the general feeling is that Jorge Vilda will not continue as manager of the national team, who will meet up again on September 22 after their World Cup success.
Here is the full statement from the RFEF:
Following the meeting of the Committee of Presidents of the Autonomous and Territorial Federations of the RFEF, we would like to inform both the world of football and wider society of the following unanimous agreements:
- After the recent events and the unacceptable examples of behaviour that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, the Territorial Presidents’ Committee request that Mr. Luis Rubiales present his resignation as president of the RFEF immediately.
-We would like to enthusiastically congratulate the women’s national football team on their World Cup triumph. We value the significance and sporting legacy this success will have for Spanish sport. We would like to express our admiration and gratitude to an outstanding group of players and we extend our congratulations to all those who, over the years, have worked hard to contribute to the growth of women’s football.
-We will urge the corresponding bodies to carry out a wholesale, immediate and organic restructuring restructuring process of strategic positions in the Federation in order to bring in a new management role in Spanish football.
-Following FIFA’s suspension of Mr. Luis Rubiales, the Federation’s internal management protocols have been implemented as a consequence of said suspension.
-In addition, we have urged president Pedro Rocha to immediately withdraw the previous statement, that we learnt of today, on behalf of the Federation, with FIFA and UEFA.
- The RFEF remains committed to continuing to implement its investment and equality policies for the development of women’s football.
- Finally, the Presidents’ Committee has given its unanimous backing to Mr. Pedro Rocha to lead us through a new stage where dialogue and reconciliation with all football institutions will be the line followed. We place ourselves at the disposal of the CSD and all the institutions involved to continue developing the 2030 World Cup bid together.