The fallout continued for Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales on Thursday — and it’s cost him his job.
The embattled federation head is planning to resign from his position on Friday as the backlash over the unsolicited kiss he placed on Jenni Hermoso during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup title game continued, ESPN reported.
Earlier Thursday, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales.
Rubiales’ actions have overshadowed what should have been a historic moment for Spanish football as its women’s team captured their first Women’s World Cup title.
But the soon-to-be ex-president’s kiss during the team’s celebration of its victory led to condemnation and further scrutiny of his actions following the World Cup win.
In addition to the kiss, which Hermoso later said in an Instagram live video that she did not like, Rubiales was also seen grabbing his crotch in a gesture to celebrate the victory and hugging and kissing other players on the cheek.
While Rubiales initially criticized those who were outraged by his actions and called them “idiots,” he later released an apology.
Hermosa in a statement, along with her player’s union, said that actions like Rubiales’ “should never go unpunished.”
The backlash has only grown louder by the day, with some of Spain’s most powerful dignitaries weighing in.
The country’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called Rubiales’ apology “not enough.”
“The apologies made by Mr. Rubiales are not enough,” Sánchez told reporters, according to CNN. “I even think that they are not appropriate and that, therefore, Mr. Rubiales needs to continue to take steps to clarify what we all saw.”
The prime minister added: “It doesn’t connect with the majority sentiment of the citizenry, which clearly bets on equality between men and women and which, logically, well we’ve seen his statements of apology, which I don’t know if you’ve all seen it, but I think that they’re insufficient.”
Spain’s acting second deputy prime minister, Yolanda Diaz, levied criticisms of her own and called for Rubiales to resign.
In opening its inquiry into the kiss, FIFA said that Rubiales had violated Article 13 of its disciplinary code.
“FIFA reiterates its unwavering commitment to respecting the integrity of all individuals and strongly condemns any behavior to the contrary,” a statement from soccer’s governing body said.
RFEF held an emergency meeting Thursday to plan a path forward, according to Reuters.
Extremadura football federation head Pedro Rocha and Andalusia federation boss Pablo Lozano are the favorites to take over for Rubiales, the outlet reported.
