Madrid, Aug. 29, (dpa/GNA) – The regional presidents of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Sunday night called for the immediate resignation of RFEF president Luis Rubiales.
Rubiales has refused to step down after he caused outrage by kissing Spain player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the women’s World Cup trophy presentation on August 20.
After a meeting on Monday evening, the Committee of Presidents of the Autonomous and Territorial Federations of the RFEF said the incident had “seriously damaged the image” of Spanish football.
“The Territorial Presidents’ Committee request that Mr. Luis Rubiales present his resignation as president of the RFEF immediately,” a statement said.
They also called for a restructure of RFEF management and gave their unanimous support to interim president Pedro Rocha, who took charge after Rubiales was provisionally suspended by football’s world governing body FIFA.
“The RFEF remains committed to continuing to implement its investment and equality policies for the development of women’s football,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Madrid have launched a preliminary investigation into the kiss scandal, a spokesman said on Monday.
They will ask Hermoso whether she wants to press charges over the incident.
Given the incident happened in the Australian city of Sydney, the involvement of Spanish prosecutors could be complicated.
But the judicial spokesman said that “based on the clear public statements” of Hermoso, 33, she may have been the victim of an alleged sexual assault, as there appears to have been “no kind of consent.”
Radio station Cadena Ser reported that Hermoso has 15 days to file charges.
Prosecutors may also be looking to see if Rubiales has broken other Spanish laws. He threatened legal action against Hermoso and accused her of lying after she said the kiss was not consensual.
Rubiales has been suspended by FIFA for 90 days pending its investigation while the Spanish government has referred the case to a sports tribunal, which met for the first time on Monday.
Víctor Francos, president of the government’s Higher Sports Council which took the case to the sports tribunal, told a news conference: “We continue to believe that our complaint has all the legal grounds to be treated very seriously.
“We still don’t have any news from the tribunal. Spanish society has a right to know what has been going on.”
Players threatened a strike when Rubiales refused to resign on Friday. The Spanish women’s team were already unhappy with him after he sided with coach Jorge Vilda in a dispute before the women’s World Cup.
For the time being, European football’s governing body UEFA is leaving jurisdiction to FIFA, given the kissing incident happened at a World Cup. According to dpa information, both governing bodies have been discussing the course of action in recent days.
Rubiales has sat on the UEFA Executive Committee as vice president since 2019. So far, no senior UEFA official has commented on the scandal.
Media reports say the fact the Spanish government has also sharply criticized Rubiales and sent the case to a tribunal has led his federation to complain to UEFA about improper government intervention.
There were reports Rubiales and allies at the Spanish federation want to be kicked out of European competition to goad the government.
Meanwhile, media reports on Monday said Rubiales’s mother was on a hunger strike and had locked herself in a church in protest at her son’s treatment.
The 46-year-old’s mother locked herself in a church in the Andalusian city of Motril in the south of the country in protest against what she called the “inhumane and bloody witch-hunt” of her son, state television station RTVE and other Spanish media reported.
According to the report, she wanted to continue the strike “day and night” until “justice is served.”
Dozens of people gathered in front of the church throughout the evening to show their support for Rubiales.
Spain’s 1-0 win over England in the final on August 20, the country’s first women’s World Cup triumph, has been overshadowed by the scandal.
Hermoso at first said she had not liked the kiss and then a federation statement quoted her as playing it down. Since then she has again vehemently denied it was consensual.
Rubiales initially laughed off the controversy before apologizing and then reversing course again at an initial federation meeting on Friday. He had been expected to resign but instead gave a defiant speech, saying “fake feminism” had led to his “social assassination.”
He was given a standing ovation by many federation delegates, including young women.
Rubiales did apologize on Friday for grabbing his crotch as he celebrated the final whistle in Sydney. He was sat metres away from the Spanish queen and her daughter.
GNA