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Suspended Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales has been in hot water since kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso without her consent. It has now been reported that he was accused of abuse of power two years ago.
Meanwhile, the kissing incident took place in the immediate aftermath of Spain's victory over England in the 2023 FIFA World Cup final last month. During the presentation ceremony, Rubiales planted a kiss on Hermoso's lips, catching the player by surprise.
Far from being apologetic about his actions, Rubiales had been pressuring Hermoso to release fake statements about the sequence of events. He has now accused the player of lying about the incident. On Wednesday, as per Football Espana, Hermoso pressed police charges against Rubiales for sexual assault.
It has now emerged (El Mundo via Football Espana) that Spain's CSD (Supreme Sports Council) had dismissed charges of abuse of power against Rubiales two years ago due to 'legal discrepancies'.
Some of the subordinates of the-then CSD head, Jose Manuel Franco, took the case to the Tribunal for Sport, accusing Rubiales of serious infractions.
The issue pertained to TV rights for the women’s game. Rubiales was accused of diverting the rights for personal benefit. Moreover, he also tried to pressure teams to accept the new terms. Other CSD members reckoned that amounted to endangering the competition integrity.
Franco, though, dismissed the case in December of 2021, citing ‘legal discrepancies’ and the need to ‘maintain the balance of Spanish football’. The aforementioned source says that the government didn't want to remove or suspend Rubiales and risk making La Liga president Javier Tebas the de facto number one in Spanish football.
Fast forward two years, following the kissing incident, Luis Rubiales has refused to resign, despite the RFEF requesting him to do so. However, any action from the RFEF or CSD will wait until Rubiales' sexual assault case is resolved.
What has Dani Carvajal said about the Luis Rubiales-Jenni Hermoso incident?
The Luis Rubiales controversy threatens to take the shine of Spain's historic Women's World Cup triumph. Real Madrid and Spain men's team star Dani Carvajal has now shared his take on the suspended RFEF president.
In an interview on Onda Cero (via EL MUNDO), Carvajal admitted that Luis Rubiales' behavior was far from appropriate. However, he stopped short of terming Jenni Hermoso a victim.
"We in the statement admit that the president's behavior is not appropriate," said Carvajal. "And there are legal entities that are considering whether Jennifer is really a victim of something that is being processed.
"We stay out of the way. There are people who have to decide' before adding that footballers 'cannot position ourselves or condemn one party or another beforehand without really knowing what has happened, because to date Jennifer has not filed a complaint either.'"
Carvajal is with the Spain team preparing to take on Georgia on Friday (September 8) and Cyprus four days later in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying.
