Luis Rubiales has been banned from contacting or going within 200m of Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso. He was handed a restraining order as he appeared in court for the first time since he was accused of sexual assault and coercion. He denies both charges.
Last week, Rubiales, 46, resigned from his position as the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation after the Women's World Cup final, where he came under fire after being accused of issuing an “unsolicited kiss" on Hermoso during the post-match trophy presentation. Hermoso has since filed an official complaint with the prosecutor's office.
Revealing his decision to step down during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, which aired on Sunday night, Luis told the Talk TV host: “I cannot continue my work.” The former athlete went on to say that he came to this decision after speaking to his daughters and his father. Since the World Cup incident, the Spanish women's football team has said they will refuse to play while Luis is still in the president's seat. In a show of solidarity, several players from the men's football team also vowed not to set foot on the pitch until Luis had resigned.
After his TV interview, Luis released a statement to the press, detailing his decision to step down. He tweeted a link to a GoogleDoc, which started with: "Good night. Today, I transmitted at 9:30 p.m. to the acting President, Mr. Pedro Rocha, my resignation from the position of President of the RFEF.
“I have also informed you that I have done the same with my position at UEFA, so that my position in the Vice Presidency can be replaced. After the quick suspension carried out by FIFA, plus the rest of open proceedings against me, it is evident that I will be able to return to my position.”
He continued: “Insisting on waiting and holding on is not going to contribute to anything positive, neither to the Federation nor to Spanish football. Among other things, because there are de facto powers that will prevent me. There is the management of my team and, above all, the happiness that I have the enormous privilege of these more than 5 years at the head of the RFEF.”
Calling out sexism is simply too much like hard work.
Luis went on to say he will do all he can to “prevail.” He told his followers: “I must look forward, look to the future. Now there is something that concerns me firmly. I have faith in the truth and I will do everything be in my power to prevail. My daughters, my family and the people who love me have suffered the effects of persecution excessive, as well as many falsehoods, but it is also true that on the street, more and more every day, the truth is prevailing.”
Amid mounting backlash from the public and football community, Luis was suspended from his position on August 26. This was due to footage of him kissing Jenni directly on the lips after Spain beat England 1-0 in the Women's World Cup final on August 20. The kiss was captured on camera during the post-match trophy presentation, subsequently prompting mass debate and outrage. Jorge Vilda, the head coach of the Spanish Women's team, was sacked amid the ongoing controversy (though the Spanish federation the RFEF has not yet provided a specific reason for his dismissal).
Throughout it all, Luis continued to state that the kiss was consensual. The former professional athlete's first dismissal over the kiss came shortly after the World Cup game, where he referred to the moment as a “minor show of affection." He told the broadcaster COPE that it was “a kiss between two friends celebrating something," dismissing those who saw it differently as “idiots and stupid people." But Hermoso repeatedly expressed that she did not give consent. In a statement issued on August 25, she said: “I feel obligated to say that the words of Mr. Luis Rubiales explaining the unfortunate event are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture he has created.”
“I want to make clear that not in any moment did the conversation occur that Mr. Luis Rubiales references, and much less that his kiss was consensual. In the same way, I want to reiterate how I did in that moment, that what happened was not enjoyable.”
She continued: “The situation left me in shock because of the context of the celebration, and with the time passed, and those initial feelings being able to sink, I feel the need to denounce this as I feel that no one, in no work space, sporting or social, should be a victim to this time of nonconsensual behaviour. I felt vulnerable and a victim of aggression, an impulsive act, sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part. In short, I wasn’t respected.”
