The Supreme Sports Council (CSD) cannot suspend Luis Rubiales as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation after the Administrative Court of Sport (TAD) opened a case against him for serious (and not very serious) misconduct, it is considered that the kiss to Jennifer According to the information available, Hermoso cannot be classified as an abuse of power. The TAD’s decision is a hard blow to the government, as it prevents the president of the CSD, Víctor Francos, from convening the governing body’s steering committee within 48 hours to impose the interim sanction against the Granada leader. Based on this decision, the CSD will apply to the TAD for an interim measure of interim suspension until the above-mentioned court decides on the matter. With this move, the government wants to at least ensure that the members of the court make it clear to society that Rubiales is not temporarily suspended. For Pedro Sánchez’s manager, it would be devastating for Spain’s image if FIFA does not remedy the situation with a harsh sanction against Rubiales – he has already been banned for 90 days – allowing him to return to his post from November 21st.
This was expressed by the Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta: “The government and the CSD consider these behaviors to be very serious and we will continue to defend this criterion.” But we accept the decisions of the courts, even if we do not share them, and we will contact all the organizations necessary for our criterion to prevail, which we believe is the vast majority in our Spanish society.
With the new Sporting Act not yet fully drafted, the CSD Complaint appealed the 90 Act, alleging abuse of power due to Rubiales kissing Hermoso amid celebrations for the world title won in Sydney. He also alluded to the president’s indecent behavior of touching his genitals in the box. In the legislation applied, the one mentioned above from 90, the abuse of power, which the TAD does not consider proven in the present case, is considered to be very serious. However, indecent behavior is only considered a serious offense. In the new law being drafted, obscene gestures on the President’s box, two meters away from Queen Letizia and Infanta Sofia, are considered very serious. Had the sanctions provisions been further developed, the government could have suspended Rubiales.
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The TAD sanction process begins when the file is opened. Sanctions classified as serious in the 1990 Sports Act range from one month to two years of disqualification.
FIFA already opened proceedings against the federation’s president last Saturday and imposed a 90-day ban on him, a setback Rubiales did not anticipate in his efforts to retain the post. After Rubiales refused to resign in this assembly last Friday, and now despite the unanimous plea of the Territorial Presidents who are meeting this Monday, Rubiales’ days as a leader of national and international football are numbered, despite the lukewarmness of the TAD. While awaiting the final sanctions, first the body that governs world football, and now the government, don’t want to give him any room for maneuver.
Communiqué prior to the TAD resolution, published today, Friday, September 1, 2023.
Thank you for the countless signs of support. https://t.co/N4aq0cfc6D
— Luis Rubiales (@LuisRubiales17) September 1, 2023
Encouraged by the TAD’s decision, Rubiales issued a statement – the authenticity of which has been confirmed by this newspaper – via a recent Twitter account, in which he insisted on his version that the kiss on Jenni Hermoso was consensual: “There was never a moment it a.” Aggression.” In addition, the President, as he did last Friday during the RFEF meeting, denounced a political and media lynching. The man from Granada believes that he has more and more popular support and relies on the TAD’s decision to continue defending itself, with the note captioned with something of an apology: “Excellence should be expected of athletic leaders and that was not the case for me.”
Miquel Iceta: “Abuse of authority is a pretty serious element”
Shortly after learning of the Sports Administrative Court’s (TAD) decision, Culture and Sports Minister Miquel Iceta summoned the media to the Barcelona government delegation. There he expressed his surprise that the TAD had opened a file against Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation, as a “serious” case and not “very serious” as the government wanted. The reason: the non-consensual kiss on the soccer player Jenni Hermoso on the occasion of the celebrations for winning the world championship title in Sydney, reports Andres Tomas.
“We have filed a complaint about two types of actions that seem to us to be extremely serious: abuse of authority and damage to the image of our sport.” It seems to us that these are sufficiently serious elements and the TAD considers this to be so because they are a file opened,” he explained. And he continued: “In his assessment, I dare say preliminary, he considers it only ‘serious’. If the TAD had classified it as “very serious”, the CSD itself could have directly suspended Mr. Rubiales under Article 62 of the Sports Code. But since it is considered serious, it is a matter for the court itself and we will request it from this moment,” added Iceta, who defended that the Spanish government will make the necessary efforts so that Rubiales does not hold the position of president again Federation. .
In addition, there are concerns about the impact on the brand of Spain, candidate to host the 2030 World Cup: “We will defend the dignity, honor and image of Spanish sport.” And we are in contact with FIFA to prevent that the damage to its image that it has caused has negative consequences. I am convinced that we will have the support of the sports associations and in particular the RFEF, which, after the suspension of its former president, was the first to carelessly send a letter to UEFA which, if it had accepted it for processing, would have resulted in prejudice . Obviously for our sport and Spanish football.”
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