Who is Luis Rubiales, manager who kissed a player on the mouth at the World Cup

The kiss given by the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, to Jenni Hermoso during the delivery of medals after winning the Women’s World Cup sparked revolt on social networks, among ministers of the Spanish government, and forced an apology. Protagonist of the most controversial scene in women’s football, Rubiales gained “fame” for various situations in the presidency of the highest body of Spanish football.

President of the Spanish federation since 2018, Luis Rubiales is a former player and has a path full of questioned actions during his tenure at the head of Spanish football. When he played, Rubiales was a player characterized by dedication on the field and somewhat low technical quality. Because of that, he didn’t have opportunities in big clubs in the country and he played in teams like Xerez, Levante and Alicante.

Shortly after he stopped playing, Rubiales was elected president of the Association of Players of Spain, a kind of Union of football athletes, in early 2010 and began his “political” career within the sport. Seven years later, he moved on to presidency of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. In the election, Luis Rubiales picked up a declared fight with Javier Tebas, current president of LaLiga, for opposing the opponent’s way of thinking about football and, since then, the two do not agree on anything.

In charge of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales was not exempt from controversy. In 2020, the former player’s uncle publicly accused Rubiales of paying for a party with about 10 young women in Ibiza with money from the Spanish federation. The case had no sequel or police investigation after the complaint.

In early 2022, Luis Rubiales was involved in another controversy involving money received by the Spanish Football Federation. At the time, audios of a conversation between Rubiales and Piqué, then Barcelona defender, were leaked and showed a possible scheme for payment of amounts outside the contracts in the agreement that took the Spanish Super Cup dispute to Saudi Arabia.

The two involved were denounced by the Public Ministry of Spain for corruption and the former defender even gave up his position as an intermediary in the negotiation for a period. The case continues to be investigated by the Spanish government.

Even though he was president of the Association of Football Athletes in the country during the 2010s, Luis Rubiales stood by coach Jorge Vilda in the confusion between the coach and the players of the Spanish national team during the preparation and the 2023 World Cup. the team since 2015, VIlda saw their attitudes towards the athletes exposed when 15 players sent a letter complaining about actions such as searching the bags and backpacks of the players after shopping and the ban on locking the door of the concentration rooms before the end of the night.

During the 2023 World Cup, the split between athletes and coaching staff was evident at various times, such as in the press conferences of the Spanish national team before games in which Jorge Vilda and an athlete did not look at each other during questions from journalists. Despite this, Luis Rubiales defended and kept the coach in charge.