What punishment will Luis Rubiales receive for kissing Spain’s World Cup star Jenni Hermoso?

Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF), is cornered after kissing Spain forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent in the celebrations following La Roja’s 2023 Women’s World Cup final victory. The Spanish government will give the 46-year-old the opportunity to take the next step towards “resolving” the situation, with the controversy having now roared on for several days. However, the “resolution” looks set to end with him losing his job, one way or another. The only thing left to settle is who makes the decision.

Rubiales’ forced apology “not enough” for President Sánchez

The Spanish Soccer Federation’s initial attempts to defuse the situation had the exact opposite effect, with a video recording of Rubiales saying “I must have been wrong, I have to apologise, I have no other choice” hardly appearing genuine, which is exactly how the Spanish government - and everyone else - saw it.

Spain’s current acting President Pedro Sánchez spoke publicly on the matter, saying “Mr Rubiales must continue to take steps to clarify what has occurred. The players of the women’s national team have done everything to win, but it is true that there has been some unacceptable behaviour that shows that in our country there is still a long way to go in terms of equality, respect and equal rights for women. Apologies are not enough, nor are they adequate”.

RFEF to hold emergency AGM

And more apologies are not expected to be enough when the RFEF hold an emergency AGM on Friday, with neither the general public nor the political powers that be willing to forgive and forget.

Spain’s regional soccer federations to play big role

The Spanish Soccer Federation is much more than just Rubiales, who FIFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against, and his right-hand men and women. Regional Spanish federations are also represented and have significant influence. On Tuesday, the general view was that their president had been treated “unfairly”, which is no longer thought to be the belief of the majority.

Some would prefer to stay out of the controversy and accept that Rubiales’ position is now untenable, while others have publicly turned their backs on him. The Basque Soccer Federation, for instance, has announced it will not take part in the AGM and that it is considering withdrawing its representative from the RFEF’s board of directors. If other regional federations follow suit, they will push Rubiales towards resigning. The regional federations could therefore have a big say on what happens next, with the Spanish government not willing to directly issue a sanction of any kind.

Rubiales has the power to impose a punishment on himself as part of the internal investigation that is being carried out by the RFEF but would have a limited amount of time to do so. It had also been speculated that he could attempt to negotiate a more lenient sanction from the TAD (the Spanish Administrative Sports Court), although AS has learned that would not be the case. Rubiales could not be subject to legal action twice for the same cause of action, with state regulations applied by the CSD (Spain’s National Sports Council) taking precedence over the RFEF’s internal regulations.

Rubiales controversy likely to end in one of two ways

What does it all mean? It looks as if there are two possible options: Rubiales resigns immediately or is banned from holding office. The CSD is prepared to wait to see the outcome of the RFEF’s AGM and internal investigation into the matter, although Miquel Iceta, Spain’s Minister of Culture and Sport, has said he expects there to be “clear condemnation” of the president’s behaviour and that the government “won’t look the other way” if that doesn’t occur.

If Rubiales doens’t take things into his own hands and resign, or even impose a punishment on himself, the CSD will step in. Miguel Ángel Galán (the president of Cenafe, the Spanish national school for soccer coaches), Spanish political party Sumar, Liga F (Spain’s top female professional league) and the AFE (Association of Spanish Soccer Players) have all filed complaints about the incident, which will be reviewed to see if any laws have been broken. If so, the TAD will take the case up and could ban Rubiales from holding office from anywhere between two and 15 years.