Luis Rubiales resigns as Spain’s soccer federation president after unwanted World Cup kiss

Luis Rubiales, the now-suspended president of the Spanish soccer federation, introduced Sunday that he’s resigning from the function within the wake of a weeks-long nationwide scandal that started when he kissed soccer participant Jenni Hermoso on the lips throughout Ladies’s World Cup awards ceremony on Aug. 20. 

Hermoso, who stated the kiss was not consensual, formally accused Rubiales of sexual assault on Sept. 6. Spanish state prosecutors subsequently filed a lawsuit towards Rubiales for sexual assault and coercion.

Rubiales introduced his resignation on X (previously Twitter) and on the British talk show Piers Morgan Uncensored, hosted by tv character Piers Morgan.

“Many individuals assume it is best to resign as president. What are you going to do?” Morgan requested Rubiales, citing the final weeks’ “ferocious stress” on him, his household and his younger daughters.

Sure, I will,” Rubiales stated. “‘Trigger I can’t proceed my work.” He stated he consulted along with his father, daughters and shut pals earlier than arriving on the choice. 

That is now a query of “not solely me,” he stated.

“I’ll defend my honorability. I’ll defend my innocence,” Rubiales wrote on social media, the place he additionally posted a resignation letter.

Rubiales was suspended from his publish by FIFA on Aug. 27, a day after he refused to step down when he delivered a defiant speech to the final meeting of his federation wherein he portrayed himself as a sufferer.

He has dismissed the outcry as a “witch hunt” by “false feminists” and insisted that it was a consensual kiss — which Hermoso herself has directly refuted. Rubiales had earlier refused to resign amid a number of ongoing investigations into his conduct.

The prosecutors’ workplace in Madrid stated that, in accordance with a sexual consent legislation handed final 12 months, Rubiales may face a nice or a jail sentence of 1 to 4 years if discovered responsible. The brand new legislation eradicated the distinction between “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault,” sanctioning any unconsented sexual act.

Spain’s authorities, gamers’ unions, gamers and many voters have come out in assist of Hermoso. Rubiales, in the meantime, has turn into a soccer outcast even whereas he refused to resign.

—The Related Press contributed to reporting.