Walter Finch
GOVERNMENT sources have indicated that they will move to fire Luis Rubiales, the President of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), after his dramatic refusal to resign this morning.
The Culture and Sports Minister Miquel Iceta is set to expedite the complaints against Rubiales to the Administrative Court of Sport which will then lead to his suspension.
It was his direct attacks on various government ministers who had criticised him during his speech at an Extraordinary General Assembly this morning that triggered the immediate response.
Rubiales rounded on second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, and the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, in his speech against ‘false feminism’.
During his address to assembled federation employees – including the coach of both the men’s and women’s national football teams – the federation chief channelled his inner Leo Dicaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street by dramatically refusing to resign.
Amid expectations that he would hand in his notice, Rubiales instead spent a full 15 seconds repeating the phrase: “I’m not going to resign!”
He also once again downplayed the lip kiss he planted on Jenni Hermoso as she collected her World Cup winner’s medal after the final on Sunday.
Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had described his apologies as ‘insufficient’ and ‘inadequate’ and Fifa had already begun proceedings against him.
Yet despite the writing on the wall, the ‘huge ego’ doubled down on his original defence and even offered unpopular women’s coach Jorge Vilda a new €500,000-a-year contract.
Referring to the kiss as just a ‘peck’, he rounded on what he described as ‘false feminism’, calling it the ‘great scourge of this country.’
“False feminism does not look for justice or truth,” he said to applause from the federation suits in the audience.
He also repeated several times that he was the victim of a ‘social assassination.’
“I say, what have I done?” he said. “Is a consensual peck enough to get me out of here? I will fight to the end.”
He went on to make the claim – refused by Hermoso – that the kiss was mutual and in fact the player had initiated it after grabbing and hugging him.
“She was the one who lifted me up and brought me closer to her body. And I said to her: ‘a little bit?’ and she said, ‘okay’,” he said at the podium.
“You’re great (eres un crack),” Rubiales then claimed Hermoso whispered to him.
Various clubs and federations had announced that they intended to snub Rubiales’ Extraordinary General Meeting, in which he had expected to shore up his support among the football executive class.
Instead, an immediate backlash was launched upon Rubiales’ defiant – and tone deaf – refusal to go.
“Mr. Rubiales still does not know where he is or what he has done. It is not up to scratch. You should resign now and save us the embarrassment,” Yolanda Diez had said on Twitter.
“My ears are bleeding,” said former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.
La Liga President Javier Tebas, with whom Rubiales already had a longstanding beef, slammed the ‘misogynistic gestures, the profane expressions, the protocol disaster and the insults of this latest global embarrassment.’
READ MORE:
- Soccer’s world governing body FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against Luis Rubiales in Spanish sexist kissing scandal
- Spain’s football chief Luis Rubiales to quit after causing international sexism
- I’M NOT LEAVING! Chief Spanish football sleaze Rubiales makes dramatic U-turn and REFUSES to quit
