Luis Rubiales

Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar (born 23 August 1977) is a Spanish former football official and professional player who played as a defender, appearing in 53 La Liga matches over three seasons.

He was the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and one of UEFA's vice-presidents.

On 10 September 2023, Rubiales resigned from his post in the wake of a scandal involving Jennifer Hermoso at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final award ceremony.

He is banned from all football activities for three years.

Rubiales was born in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands to father Luis Manuel Rubiales López, a primary school teacher and mother Ángeles Béjar, a hairdresser.

He was raised in Motril in the Province of Granada.

Rubiales spent the majority of his playing career in the Segunda División, representing Guadix, Mallorca B, Lleida, Xerez, Levante (gaining promotion to La Liga in 2004 and 2006) and Alicante CF.

He made his debut in the Spanish top flight on 29 August 2004, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 away draw against Real Sociedad.

On 4 August 2009, it was announced Rubiales had agreed a one-year deal at Scottish Premier League side Hamilton Academical.

However, after his third league appearance, in which he was named man of the match, he announced his retirement at the age of 32, returning to Spain to take up a backroom role at Levante.

In March 2010, Rubiales was elected president of the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE).

He quit his post in November 2017 with the intention of running for office at the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

Rubiales was elected as the RFEF president in May 2018.

Upon taking office he vowed to establish a fixed wage for the leaders of the regional federations (hitherto the exception rather than the norm), thereby endowing each of the entities with €100,000 for their professionalisation.

Dissenting voices within the RFEF reportedly silenced thereafter.

In one of his first actions as president, Rubiales dismissed the Spanish national men's team head coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, having not been informed by the latter that he was negotiating to become the new manager of Real Madrid.

On 8 September 2018, Rubiales gave an interview in which he criticised the Spanish League president Javier Tebas for signing a contract that would see matches being played in the United States.

The former explained that the deal was "worthless" without the Spanish Federation's approval.

On 18 April 2022, the Spanish digital newspaper El Confidencial published some leaked documents and audio files that they called Supercopa Files, which included conversations that took place in 2019 between Rubiales and the footballer and businessman Gerard Piqué.

The audio files find Rubiales negotiating to pay Piqué commissions related to playing the Supercopa de España in Saudi Arabia.

One of the conditions for these commissions was that two of the four participating teams would need to be Barcelona (Piqué's club at the time) and Real Madrid.

Rubiales would also benefit from these commissions due to the variable part of his salary in the federation.

In 2022, Rubiales' uncle and former chief of staff Juan Rubiales accused Luis Rubiales of embezzlement of RFEF money, allegedly spent on private parties with a group of friends in a house in Salobreña in 2020.

He has also been accused of using federation resources for his personal enjoyment, such as a trip to New York in 2018 accompanied by a Mexican painter.

Juan Rubiales also accused his nephew of devising an espionage scheme against AFE president David Aganzo.

In December 2022, Rubiales filed a lawsuit against Wikipedia demanding that content on the Spanish Wikipedia which might be seen as damaging to his honour be removed.

The complaint was filed through the legal department of the RFEF.

The lawsuit focuses on Wikipedia content about scandals including negotiations for the sale of the Supercopa de España to Saudi Arabia said to involve commissions and personal benefits, and derogatory WhatsApp postings about teams in the Spanish league.

On 25 March 2023, the RFEF recognised 1937 Copa de la España Libre winners Levante FC, now replaced by Levante UD, as the equivalent of winning the Copa del Rey.

Rubiales then handed the trophy to the 2023 captain of Levante, Vicente Iborra, before their match against Real Zaragoza on 31 March.

After Spain won the Women's World Cup in August 2023, Rubiales kissed Spain's midfielder Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the medal presentation; Hermoso later indicated during her Instagram live stream that she did not like the kiss.

In the locker room, he reportedly put his arm around her and said: "There, we will celebrate the wedding of Jenni and Luis Rubiales" in Ibiza.

Rubiales was earlier spotted grabbing his crotch while standing in the authorities' box near Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter Infanta Sofía.

Rubiales subsequently faced widespread criticism for his celebrations, including from American footballer Megan Rapinoe.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez also called for him to resign.

Rubiales apologised for his conduct, stating that his celebrations were "in a moment of euphoria".

The AFE issued an official statement that if Rubiales did not resign immediately, they would demand that the Sports Law be applied against him.

According to Grupo Vocento's Relevo, he reportedly begged Hermoso to appear next to him in an apology video, while Jorge Vilda made several unsuccessful requests to Hermoso's family for her to come out in support of Rubiales.

The RFEF also sent to EFE an incorrect statement saying Hermoso condoned Rubiales' behaviour.

Acting through her players' union Futpro, Hermoso asked the RFEF, without directly mentioning Rubiales, "to ensure the rights of [Futpro] players and to take exemplary measures".