Spanish football boss Rubiales resigns over kiss at Women's World Cup final

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Luis Rubiales, the disgraced head of the Spanish football federation, finally folded under immense pressure Sunday and resigned three weeks after his kiss of a player on the lips without her consent overshadowed Spain's first-ever Women's World Cup title.

Rubiales had been at the centre of a scandal that had gone far beyond Spain's borders and the world of sport after he kissed Jenni Hermoso during the globally televised awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia.

“After my swift suspension by FIFA, and the rest of the cases building against me, it is clear that I cannot return to the post,” Rubiales said on Sunday in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He had already been temporarily suspended from his job by FIFA, after it opened a disciplinary case, remained defiant and hostile toward those who criticized him. FIFA is the world governing body for football. 

Then came the most serious threat yet to Rubiales, when Spanish state prosecutors accused him on Friday of sexual assault and coercion after the unwanted kiss, two days after Hermoso formally accused him of sexual assault.

Once the most powerful man in Spanish football, Rubiales was the cause of his own undoing for a kiss that he insisted was done in a “moment of jubilation” and that was similar to one he “would have given his daughters.” The overwhelming view in Spain — from fans, players and politicians — strongly disagreed and saw it as a sexist act and the abuse of authority.

“The former president of the Spanish football federation has done what he had to do,” Spain's Secretary of State for Sport Víctor Francos told Spain's Cadena SER radio. “I think it is what practically the entirety of Spanish society had asked him to do.”

Rubiales said he also resigned as UEFA vice president due to the reputational danger the scandal could inflict on Spain's joint bid to host the 2030 men's World Cup along with Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine.

Rubiales said that he had told interim Spanish federation president Pedro Rocha — who replaced him when Rubiales was suspended on August 26— of his resignation late Sunday night. The Spanish federation confirmed Rubiales' resignation in a statement, adding that it would follow its statutes and call an election for a new president.

After Rubiales accused Hermoso of lying about what he said was a kiss she had consented to, Spain's women world champions, along with dozens of players, refused to play again for their country until there were changes in the federation's leadership. The firing of the unpopular women's team coach was not enough by itself for them to come back.

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