Kissing scandal: Spanish football chief steps down on Friday

Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales will quit his post after being roundly condemned by the football world and beyond for forcibly kissing a Spain player on the mouth following the Women’s World Cup final, several media outlets reported Thursday.

Rubiales, 46, will submit his resignation as president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Friday at an extraordinary general assembly, according to the reports.

After Spain’s 1-0 win over England in the final in Sydney on Sunday Rubiales gave midfielder Jennifer Hermoso an unsolicited kiss on the lips.

He also celebrated the victory by grabbing his genitals.

Rubiales came under unprecedented pressure to resign, with days of criticism from figures including Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s women’s league, and several men’s La Liga clubs, as well as internationally.

FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales on Thursday.

FIFA said the incident “may constitute violations of article 13 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the FIFA disciplinary code”.

Spain star Hermoso released a joint statement with union Futpro on Wednesday, which called for action to be taken against the RFEF president.

“We are working to ensure that acts such as those we have seen never go unpunished, that they are sanctioned, and that the exemplary measures are adopted to protect women footballers from actions that we believe are unacceptable,” the statement said.

Rubiales laughed off the incident earlier in the week, branding his critics “idiots” for reading too much into what an RFEF spokesman initially described to AFP as a “spontaneous celebration”.

However, he later issued an apology which was also criticised, with Prime Minister Sanchez saying it was “insufficient”.

Earlier Thursday Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti admonished Rubiales for his conduct as the criticism continued to mount.

“It’s a very delicate topic, like most people it was behaviour that I obviously did not like,” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“It was not the behaviour of a president of the federation.” Further Spanish clubs joined the wave of dissent against Rubiales on Thursday, following Getafe president Angel Torres the day before.