Another hard blow for Luis Rubiales after conviction for sexual assault against Jenni Hermoso

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the appeal lodged by the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, against the three-year ban imposed on him by FIFA from carrying out any activity related to football.

According to the CAS , the panel that has studied the appeal determined that the sanction imposed on Rubiales by FIFA is reasonable and proportionate, for having behaved in a manner contrary to the principles of the organization's Disciplinary Code during the final of the 2023 Women's World Cup, in which Spain won the title against England.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected Mr Luis Rubiales' appeal against FIFA concerning his three-year ban from any football-related activity for having behaved in a manner contrary to the principles of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The CAS Arbitration Panel found that the sanction imposed on Mr Rubiales by FIFA is reasonable and proportionate," it said.

Rubiales ' appeal sought to annul FIFA's decision, or alternatively to partially annul it and modify the sanction, or alternatively, the application of other disciplinary measures.

The CAS Arbitration Panel determined that Rubiales' behaviour during the World Cup final reflected multiple and serious breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (art. 13) and considered that there was no reason to consider the sanction disproportionate, thus rejecting his appeal.

The hearing of the case took place last November, after Rubiales appealed against the decision handed down on 16 January 2024 by the FIFA Appeals Committee, which upheld the three-year suspension previously imposed by the international federation's Disciplinary Committee.

"The CAS Arbitration Panel determined that Mr. Rubiales' behaviour during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final constituted multiple and serious breaches of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (art. 13) and considered that there were no grounds to consider the sanction disproportionate. Mr. Rubiales ' appeal is therefore rejected and the Appealed Decision is confirmed," it said.

This body, after provisionally suspending Rubiales for a period of 90 days shortly after the final, sanctioned him on October 30, 2023 for his behavior contrary to its disciplinary code in the box during the match and the kiss he gave to the international Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony and for which he has been sentenced for sexual assault to 18 months with a fine of 10,800 euros in total.

FIFA, referring to the kiss, noted that the accused did not offer any apology to the player, either publicly or, at least, in private, and that he "persisted in his denial (publicly and in the context of the present procedure), maintaining (contrary to the player's unequivocal statement) that the kiss was consensual."

She also stressed that "he used his position as president of the RFEF in an aggressive and totally inappropriate manner to publish - on behalf of the RFEF - statements using quotes from the player that were not written or authorized by her, and issued an official statement (which was later deleted) threatening the player (among others) with legal action."

In his opinion, Rubiales used the RFEF general assembly "as a forum to defend himself and distort the reality of the kiss in his favor" and he and his entourage "emotionally coerced the player on numerous occasions to speak and take a position in his favor."

The sentence of the Criminal Court judge of the National Court, José Manuel Fernández-Prieto, on Thursday convicted Rubiales of sexual assault and acquitted him of the crime of coercing Hermoso of which he was accused, as well as the former national team coach Jorge Vilda, the director of the national team Albert Luque and the former marketing director Rubén Rivera.

Both Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso and the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE), which is bringing the private prosecution, have announced that they will appeal the sentence.