Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales resigned over the weekend following a controversial kiss with a player.
Rubiales has been widely criticized after he kissed a player on the lips as Spain’s national team received their gold medals after defeating England 1-0 in the championship match of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Sydney about three weeks ago. On Sunday, he announced his resignation in a letter on social media.
“Today, I notified the interim president at 930 pm, Mr. Pedro Rocha, that I have resigned as President of RFEF,” the letter read. “I have also let him know that I have also resigned my position in UEFA so that my Vice-presidency position can be filled. To insist on waiting around and holding onto that won’t contribute anything positive, neither to the Federation nor to Spanish football. Among other things, because the powers that be will prevent my return.”
Rubiales apologized for the incident in a video released by the RFEF and was suspended by FIFA. According to ESPN, the player has since filed a criminal complaint, and charges of sexual assault and coercion have been brought against Rubiales.
The incident was the latest involving Rubiales, whose reign has been filled with plenty of turmoil since he was named RFEF president in 2018.
The RFEF confirmed his resignation with a statement on its website on Sunday.
“The Royal Spanish Football Federation confirms that Luis M. Rubiales Béjar has presented his resignation tonight,” the statement reads. “This has been made known to the federative entity through a letter to Pedro Rocha Junco. In addition, he also resigns from his position as vice president of UEFA. With the resignation of Luis Rubiales, the procedure described in article 31.8 of the current federative statutes begins.”
Article 31.8 specifies that the Federation holds an election to determine the new president of the RFEF. That person will serve the remainder of Rubiales’s term, which expires in 2024, since he was re-elected to serve a four-year term in 2020.