Luis Rubiales, the former Spanish Football Association president has been banned from all football-related activities for three years for kissing Spain player Jenni Hermoso.
This was confirmed by FIFA on Monday morning after Rubiales was found guilty of breaching article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code for his behaviour at the Women’s World Cup final early this year.
“The Fifa Disciplinary Committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the Fifa Disciplinary Code,” a FIFA statement read.
“This case relates to the events that occurred during the final of the Fifa Women’s World Cup on 20 August 2023, for which Mr Rubiales had been provisionally suspended for an initial period of 90 days. Mr Rubiales has been notified of the terms of the Fifa Disciplinary Committee’s decision today.
“In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Fifa disciplinary code, he has 10 days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the Fifa appeal committee.”
Rubiales kissed Spain player Jenni Hermoso on the lips and during the awards ceremony in Sydney on August 20 after Spain defeated England to become world champions.
After this incident and amidst FIFA investigations, Rubiales resigned as the Spanish federation president and a UEFA vice president on September 10.
The 46-year old, who still denies any wrongdoing will now be unable to work within the game until at least 2026 after this latest FIFA decision.
