The Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has been provisionally suspended by Fifa after he kissed footballer Jenni Hermoso at the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney last weekend. Earlier, Rubiales refused to give his resignation from his post which promoted Fifa to step in. On Friday, Rubiales went through an emergency meeting after reports emerged that he would resign after kissing a Women's World Cup champion.
The incident transpired when Rubiales was giving gold medals to the Spanish team after their 1-0 victory over England in the final and that is when he grabbed Jenni Hermoso and kissed her and the female footballer later on stressed she did not consent. Rubiales on the other hand stated that the kiss was mutual and with consent while taking part in a meeting of the Spanish football federation's general assembly on Friday.
A Fifa statement said: “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.
“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.”
“The decision adopted by the chairman of the Fifa Disciplinary Committee has been communicated today to Mr Luis Rubiales, the RFEF, and Uefa for due compliance.”
The Spanish football federation on Saturday planned to sue Hermoso for lying and defamation, along with 79 women’s football players who signed a letter in which they mentioned they would not be playing for their country as long as Rubiales remained in his post. On Friday, Hermoso said that she did not give consent but the federation has scrutinized her side of events.
"The evidence is conclusive," it said. "Mr President has not lied."