One week after sullying the Women’s World Cup, Luis Rubiales is now a Spanish soccer outcast

Open this photo in gallery:

One week after the president of the Spanish soccer federation kissed a player during the Women’s World Cup awards ceremony, his reputation is in tatters and he’s out of his job.

Luis Rubiales, whose leadership of Spanish soccer had already been marked by successes tinged with scandal, wrecked his career by offending millions worldwide with his conduct at the final in Sydney, Australia, when he also grabbed his crotch in a victory gesture.

“Rubiales cannot run Spanish soccer again,” Spanish minister María Jesús Montero said Sunday, a day after he was provisionally suspended by FIFA for 90 days.

“We had enough of him when he marred the great triumph of women’s soccer with his intolerable attitude.”

Rubiales was replaced by his vice-president Pedro Rocha, who will act as interim chief in his absence. Rocha is considered to be a confidant of Rubiales. Rocha has called an emergency meeting of the soccer federation’s regional heads to discuss the crisis on Monday, when women’s groups will rally in downtown Madrid in support of forward Jenni Hermoso, who was kissed on the lips by Rubiales after Spain’s 1-0 win over England in the final.

FIFA moved against Rubiales after he refused to step down and defiantly told an emergency assembly of his federation on Friday that he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.”

On a day that will go down as one of the ugliest in Spanish soccer, Rubiales said that Hermoso had consented to the “mutual” kiss. Hermoso replied in two statements to say that was false and that she considered herself the victim of an abuse of power. She also accused the federation of trying to pressure her into supporting Rubiales. The federation hit back by saying she was lying and that it would take legal action against her.

As part of his suspension of Rubiales, FIFA disciplinary judge Jorge Palacio ordered Rubiales and the federation not to contact Hermoso.

Spain’s government is also pursuing his permanent removal in Spain’s Administrative Court for Sports. The court will meet in the coming week to consider the government’s lawsuit for an alleged abuse of power and for allegedly committing acts that tarnished the dignity and decorum of a sporting event. If found guilty, Rubiales could be ruled unfit to hold office.

Spain great Andrés Iniesta, a 2010 World Cup winner, said “after what has happened this week I would like to express my sadness, as a person, as a father of three girls, as a husband and as a soccer player.

“We have had to bear this president who clung to power, didn’t admit that his behavior had been unacceptable and was damaging the image of our country and our soccer before the world,” Iniesta said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Rubiales’s behaviour has tarnished not only the greatest feat of Spanish women’s soccer, it has also torn apart his federation.

The only public support Rubiales has received came during Friday’s general assembly when he was applauded several times by parts of the mostly male crowd, which was made up of regional federation officials, coaches, referees and players from lower divisions.

But his refusal to go quietly led to some resignations from his board, including the vice-president in charge of women’s soccer. The federation will also keep open its own internal probe into the incident as part of its sexual-violence protocol.

Those who applauded his diatribe included women’s coach Jorge Vilda – Hermoso’s coach – and Spain’s men’s coach Luis de la Fuente. But once FIFA took down Rubiales, it took only hours for both coaches to issue statements sanctioning their now former boss.

“Luis Rubiales is finished,” the president of Spain’s women’s league, Beatriz Álvarez, told The Associated Press. “He has dug his own grave with his acts and his words.”