Fifa bans former Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales for three years

Fifa has banned former Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales from the sport for three years over his behaviour at the women’s World Cup final, when he forcibly kissed Spain player Jenni Hermoso.

World football’s governing body on Monday said its disciplinary committee had found that the former Spanish Football Association president had breached Fifa’s disciplinary code. The decision follows a previous 90-day suspension that had been imposed following the final.

The sport’s world governing body said the ban remains subject to a possible appeal.

Rubiales sparked controversy in the aftermath of Spain’s victory at the World Cup in Australia. As well as kissing Spanish striker Hermoso, he grabbed and jiggled his crotch in proximity to Spain’s Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter Sofía.

His antics brought renewed attention to football’s male-dominated leadership and sexism throughout the game. It also overshadowed the Spanish team’s celebrations after its 1-0 win over England. Three weeks after the incident, Rubiales resigned from his post at the Royal Spanish Football Federation days after prosecutors filed a criminal complaint of sexual assault against him.

Prosecutors also accused him of “coercion”, a reference to Hermoso’s claims that he and his team had pressured her to say he had done nothing wrong. An investigating judge is gathering evidence and witness testimony in the case.

The former football chief denies all accusations against him and has repeatedly insisted that the kiss was consensual.

When Rubiales resigned as head of the Spanish association on September 10, he said: “I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power to ensure it prevails. My daughters, my family and the people who love me have suffered the effects of unconscionable persecution, as well as many falsehoods”.

Spain’s World Cup winning players refused to play for the country again as long as Rubiales was in charge. But his departure — and the sacking of Jorge Vilda, the team manager and a Rubiales ally — has not resolved all the players’ complaints about structural discrimination in the country’s football system.

Disparities persist at the international level, too. Fifa paid out three times as much to men’s teams in the Qatar 2022 World Cup than to women’s teams at the Australia tournament earlier this year. The governing body has said it is aiming to pay out equal prize money at the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups.

Aitana Bonmatí, a midfielder at leading women’s club side FC Barcelona and a national team star, said this month that the position of women in Spanish football had improved but that there was more to be done. “We are always building for equality, to have good conditions, to be treated as professional footballers,” she said.