Who is Luis Rubiales – the Spanish FA boss at the centre of the World Cup kissing row?
Instead of celebrating its Women’s World Cup triumph, Spanish football has been overshadowed by the actions of one of its most powerful men.
Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), has been suspended by FIFA for 90 days after grabbing and kissing player Jenni Hermoso after the final in Sydney on 20 August.
She says that in “no moment” did she consent to the kiss.
He has remained defiant in the face of mounting criticism, saying he’s the subject of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists”.
In an extraordinary speech last week, the 46-year-old said: “Do you really think I deserve this hunt? People demanding my resignation? Is this so serious for me to resign, having done the best management of Spanish football?”
He asked: “Do you think I need to resign?” – before going on to say five times that he would not.
As his fate hangs in the balance ahead of an “extraordinary and urgent” meeting of the football federation later today, Sky News looks at his rise to the top of Spanish football – and the controversies along the way.
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Spain FA boss: ‘I’m not going to quit’
Late start to footballing career
Luis Rubiales was born on the Spanish Canary Islands in 1977 and grew up in the southern province of Granada.
It wasn’t until the early 2000s and his late 20s that his football career took off.
As a defender, he played mainly in Spain’s second division league for clubs such as Mallorca B, Lleida, Xerez and Levante.
Playing for Levante in February 2007
During his time at Levante, they were promoted to La Liga, with Mr Rubiales making 53 appearances for them between 2004 and 2008.
The first minor controversy of his career also came while he was there, leading his fellow players out on strike over unpaid wages.
At the age of 32, in 2009, he signed a one-year deal to move to Scotland and play for the Hamilton Accies – but left after just two weeks and retired back to Spain.
Union chief
The following year he became the president of the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) union.
While his time there was free of scandal, since the World Cup kissing row emerged, the union’s then-marketing and commercial director, Tamara Ramos, has claimed she quit the AFE having been publicly humiliated by Rubiales on several occasions.
The Spanish federation has accused Ms Ramos of “taking advantage of the current media climate”.
Last year Mr Rubiales insisted there is a “campaign to discredit him”.
He claimed that he “cannot guarantee one day they will put a bag of cocaine in the boot of my car” – without making clear who he was referring to.
Spanish FA boss
Mr Rubiales remained president of the union until November 2017 when he took his current job as head of the football federation. He had already been on the board of directors there for six years.
The federation runs Spain’s men’s and women’s national football teams and its semi-professional and amateur leagues. It also organises the referees for La Liga.
A few weeks into the job, he made a big decision: firing Julen Lopetegui, the coach of the men’s team, just two days before their first match at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In June 2019
Mr Lopetegui had signed to join Real Madrid after the tournament, and Mr Rubiales accused him of being disloyal to his national team.
With a hastily appointed replacement, Spain failed to get beyond the final 16.
The following year, Mr Rubiales became vice president of UEFA.
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Spain’s World Cup kiss controversy explained
Read more:
Explainer: Who said what in the kiss row
Spanish FA boss accuses player he kissed of lying about it
FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings over World Cup kiss
That same year he was back in the headlines for expanding the Spanish Super Cup from two teams – the winners of La Liga and Copa del Rey – to four – including the runners up as well.
He also moved the competition to Saudi Arabia for $40m (£32m) a year. While the move was lucrative, it drew widespread criticism because of the country’s poor record on human and women’s rights.
A Spanish judge is still examining the contracts awarded for the cup, with accusations of a conflict of interest with former Barcelona star Gerard Pique’s company. Mr Rubiales strongly denies all the allegations.
In 2021, an architect tasked with renovating his Valencia home accused him of non-payment and assault.
Mr Rubiales was found not guilty of both charges against Yasmina Eid Macchet.
In May 2018
World Cup scandal could have cost him key ally
The current controversy over the World Cup kiss isn’t his first involvement with the Spanish women’s side.
When 15 players went on strike, citing their coach Jorge Vilda’s attitude to their “emotional and physical wellbeing”, Mr Rubiales was quick to back him.
Mr Vilda has stayed loyal to him until now, being quoted after Spain’s semi-final victory over Sweden as saying his support “means so much and will always stay with me”.
Mr Rubiales said in return on Friday: “Jorge Vilda, they wanted to do to you the same thing that they are doing to me now. We’ve been through a lot, but we’ve been together.”
Protesters outside the Spanish Football Federation in Las Rozas
Atletico Madrid players in support of Jenni Hermoso
When Mr Rubiales delivered his fiery speech to the RFEF’s general assembly last week in which he repeatedly said he would not resign, Mr Vilda applauded him.
Mr Vilda said at the weekend that the controversy was “real nonsense” that had “tarnished a well-deserved victory” – but also criticised Mr Rubiales’ “inappropriate behaviour”.
He did not resign, even as 11 members of Spain’s staff did.
Meanwhile, players, fans and women across Spain and beyond have made which side they are on abundantly clear.
US president-elect Donald Trump has suggested Israel and Hamas could agree a Gaza ceasefire by the end of the week.
Talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives resumed in the Qatari capital Doha yesterday, after US President Joe Biden indicated a deal to stop the fighting was “on the brink” on Monday.
A draft agreement has been sent to both sides. It includes provisions for the release of hostages and a phased Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at their “closest point” yet to a ceasefire deal.
Two Hamas officials said the group has accepted the draft agreement, with Israel still considering the deal.
An Israeli official said a deal is close but “we are not there” yet.
More than 46,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its ground offensive in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Read more:
What’s in the proposed deal?
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on beachfront cafe in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters
Biden hails possibility of agreement
President Biden said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians, in his final foreign policy speech as president.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting.
Analysis:
Deal might be close, but there are many unanswered questions
Pic: Reuters
Trump: ‘We’re very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has also discussed a possible peace deal during a phone interview with the Newsmax channel.
“We’re very close to getting it done and they have to get it done,” he said.
“If they don’t get it done, there’s going to be a lot of trouble out there, a lot of trouble, like they have never seen before.
“And they will get it done. And I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place, it has to take place.”
Read more:
Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden
Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
Pic: AP
Israeli official: Former Hamas leader held up deal
Speaking on Tuesday as negotiations resumed in Qatar, an anonymous Israeli official said that an agreement was “close, but we are not there”.
They accused Hamas of previously “dictating, not negotiating” but said this has changed in the last few weeks.
“Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle for a deal,” they added.
Sinwar, believed to be the mastermind of the 7 October attacks, led Hamas following the assassination of his predecessor but was himself killed in October last year.
Under Sinwar, the Israeli official claimed, Hamas was “not in a rush” to bring a hostage deal but this has changed since his death and since the IDF “started to dismantle the Shia axis”.
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Biden: ‘Never, never, never, ever give up’
Iran ‘weaker than it’s been in decades’
Yesterday, President Biden also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” the president said.
Mr Biden claimed America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
The US president is expected to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
A draft ceasefire deal on the table between Israel and Hamas would see 33 hostages set free and a phased withdrawal of IDF forces from parts of Gaza.
President Joe Biden said an agreement to stop the fighting was “on the brink” and high level negotiations between the two sides resumed in Qatar on Tuesday.
The deal would see a number of things happen in a first stage, with negotiations for the second stage beginning in the third week of the ceasefire.
It would also allow a surge in humanitarian aid into Gaza, which has been devastated by more than a year of war.
Details of what the draft proposal entails have been emerging on Tuesday, reported by Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages hold photos of their loved ones during a protest on 8 January. Pic: AP
Hostages to be returned
In the first stage of the potential ceasefire, 33 hostages would be set free.
These include women (including female soldiers), children, men over the age of 50, wounded and sick.
Israel believes most of these hostages are alive but there has not been any official confirmation from Hamas.
In return for the release of the hostages, Israel would free more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
People serving long sentences for deadly attacks would be included in this but Hamas fighters who took part in the 7 October attack would not be released.
An arrangement to prevent Palestinian “terrorists” from going back to the West Bank would be included in the deal, an anonymous Israeli official said.
Read more:
A timeline of events since the 7 October attacks
The hostages who still haven’t returned home
Smoke billows as buildings lie in ruin in Beit Hanoun in Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza
The agreement also includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, with IDF troops remaining in the border perimeter to defend Israeli border towns and villages.
Security arrangements would be implemented at the Philadelphi corridor – a narrow strip of land that runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza – with Israel withdrawing from parts of it after the first few days of the deal.
The Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza would start to work gradually to allow the crossing of people who are sick and other humanitarian cases out of Gaza for treatment.
Unarmed North Gaza residents would be allowed to return to their homes, with a mechanism introduced to ensure no weapons are moved there.
“We will not leave the Gaza Strip until all our hostages are back home,” the Israeli official said.
What will happen to Gaza in the future?
There is less detail about the future of Gaza – from how it will be governed, to any guarantees that this agreement will bring a permanent end to the war.
“The only thing that can answer for now is that we are ready for a ceasefire,” the Israeli official said.
“This is a long ceasefire and the deal that is being discussed right now is for a long one. There is a big price for releasing the hostages and we are ready to pay this price.”
The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but there has not been a consensus about how this should be done – and the draft ceasefire agreement does not seem to address this either.
In the past, Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It also previously rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited governing powers in the West Bank, from taking over the administration of Gaza.
Since the beginning of its military campaign in Gaza, Israel has also said it would retain security control over the territory after the fighting ends.
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