FIFA provisionally suspends Spain FA chief Luis Rubiales from football-related activities over kiss row

World football governing body FIFA has provisionally suspended Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities in the Jenni Hermoso kiss controversy on Saturday, August 26. The decision from FIFA comes a day after Rubiales had refused to step down from his office at the Spanish FA. The 46-year-old had kissed Spanish World Cup-winning star Hermoso during the presentation ceremony after the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Sydney last Sunday that sparked the controversy.

FIFA takes action

"The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, Jorge Ivan Palacio (Colombia), in use of the powers granted by article 51 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), has decided today to provisionally suspend Mr. Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international level," FIFA confirmed in a statement.

"This suspension, which will be effective as of today, is for an initial period of 90 days, pending the disciplinary proceedings opened against Mr. Luis Rubiales on Thursday, August 24."

FIFA opened an initial investigation into the matter on Thursday, August 24 when rumours of Rubiales’ resignation were surfacing in the Spanish media. However, in contrasting events on Friday, 46-year-old Rubiales refused to resign from his post as he continued to hold control of his office. There were expectations that he could resign from his office after heavy criticism from the media and political front. Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had called for Rubiales to step down from his office after attracting the attention of the world.

Rubiales’ contrasting speech

In a fiery speech, he said the kiss was "mutual, euphoric and consensual" and Hermoso had said "OK" when he asked her if he could give her "a peck".

He also asserted that "she was the one who lifted me in her arms and brought me close to her body".

On Friday, Hermoso and other players threatened not to participate in the national team duties as they wanted action against Rubiales’ behaviour. If no appropriate action was taken, the players would go on strike and not represent the nation in the future.

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