The siege on Luis Rubiales tightens as the days go by, almost the hours. Requests for resignation rain down on the president of the Football Federation from all sides. Although he has no intention of resigning at the moment and has called an extraordinary assembly for tomorrow Friday to seek the support of Spanish football, Rubiales received a very hard blow, which could be definitive. Jenni Hermoso, whom Rubiales had tried to convince to record a joint statement in which the player lent her her support, did something totally different. She published a devastating statement against him through his union.
In it, the player confirms that she wants to defend her rights and proclaimed the Futpro union and its agents as her only spokespersons. Immediately afterwards, Futpro expressed its “firm and resounding condemnation of behaviors that violate the dignity of women.”
“We ask the Federation to implement the necessary protocols, ensure the rights of our players and adopt exemplary measures. It is essential that our team, the current world champion, is always represented by figures who project values ??of equality and respect in all areas. We also call on the Higher Sports Council so that, within its powers, it actively supports and promotes prevention and intervention in the face of sexual harassment or abuse, machismo and sexism,” says the union.
Also the F League, as the AFE already did, denounced Rubiales before the CSD and requested his disqualification.
On the agenda for tomorrow’s assembly there is no specific point dedicated to the resignation of the president or his hypothetical apologies, something that seems to have been provided in requests and questions.
While Rubiales is more and more entrenched in his ivory tower, the movements against him follow one another. Rubiales has achieved something as difficult as uniting the political class. If Pedro Sánchez already came to insinuate on Monday that it is time to leave, yesterday the parliamentary spokesmen for both the PSOE, Paxti López, and the PP, Elías Bendodo, told him expressly. Sumar went further by denouncing Rubiales.
The thread of the scandal spreads. After the kiss to Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony, the effusive hugs to the players and her previous gesture touching her genitals in the box, together with Queen Letizia and the Infanta Sofía, yesterday some photos of Rubiales going up to shoulders and walking the player Athenea del Castillo across the pitch.
The question now is whether the Government has the power to force the resignation of Luis Rubiales. It doesn’t seem so simple. In this sense, Pedro Sánchez himself already recalled that the Federation “does not belong to the structure of the Spanish Government. Rubiales is chosen and dismissed by his associates. And the assembly is not going to ask for his resignation. Quite the opposite. The territorial ones are delighted with the Rubiales subsidies, increased in operations such as the sale of the Super Cup to Arabia, a business that is also highly questioned from a moral point of view.
Who could initiate a process of disqualification of Rubiales is the Higher Sports Council (CSD). Its top leader, Victor Francos, has already said it: “If the RFEF does not make decisions with Rubiales, we are ready.” According to current sports legislation, the definitive step must be taken by the Administrative Court of Sport (TAD) after opening a file at the proposal of the CSD. There is a precedent.
On December 22, 2017, the TAD dismissed the previous president, Ángel Villar, for having violated neutrality in the electoral process and infringing the sports law. He had been suspended from office for three months at the request of the CSD. This put an end to 29 years of mandate. Rubiales has been president since May 18, 2018.E
