FIFA will push for Spanish FA president, Luis Rubiales, to be banned from all football activities for 15 years after the Spanish federation made a U-turn and withdrew their support for him.
Spanish FA chiefs asked Rubiales, 46, to resign with immediate effect, saying his ‘unacceptable’ behaviour had caused ‘grave harm to the image of Spanish football’.
The U-turn followed a threat from FIFA to ban Spain’s national teams and elite clubs from international competition if the Spanish FA refused to accept their punishment of Rubiales.
Sources involved in the disciplinary process have told Mail Sport that FIFA are pushing for a ban for Rubiales of up to 15 years, the maximum permitted by their statutes. That would have allowed them to take action against Spanish national sides and clubs if the judgment had been contested.
Rubiales was last week given a 90-day interim suspension by FIFA, but retained the backing of the Spanish FA, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into his extraordinary behaviour in kissing Jenni Hermoso following Spain’s World Cup final victory over England.
Following a five-hour meeting on Monday August 28, the Spanish FA confirmed they had now asked Rubiales to step down.
In another remarkable development on Monday, it emerged that one of Rubiales’ final acts before his suspension last Friday was instructing the Spanish FA to write to UEFA, complaining of government interference and asking for the federation to be suspended, which would mean their national teams and clubs would be automatically barred from European competitions.
UEFA, however, rejected the request. The said letter was considered to be invalid as Rubiales has since been replaced by an interim president, Pedro Rocha.
In their incendiary statement released over the weekend, the Spanish FA under Rubiales’ direction had also accused Hermoso of telling lies.
‘The RFEF (Spanish FA) and the president will show each of the lies that are spread either by someone on behalf of the player or, if applicable, by the player herself,’ it read. This was met with an indignant denial by Hermoso in her lengthy riposte.
FIFA are likely to impose a lengthy ban on Rubiales after being embarrassed by his behaviour following the World Cup final in Sydney, where he also grabbed his crotch just metres away from Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter.
The world governing body’s disciplinary committee gathered statements from eyewitnesses before announcing Rubiales’ suspension ‘from all football-related activities at national and international level’ last week, and have the power to ban him from any involvement in the sport for 15 years.
Under FIFA statutes, any ban would have been extended to all Spanish national teams and clubs in FIFA-affiliated competitions if it was not accepted by the Spanish FA.
