It has been revealed that the FIFA Disciplinary Committee who handed down a three year ban to former Spanish Football Association president Luis Rubiales were “tempted to impose more severe sanctions in view of the seriousness and gravity of the incidents at stake.”
A report made public last week discussed his actions at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final in depth, detailing different accounts of several incidents.
These included “the Genitals Incident” where Rubiales was seen grabbing his crotch during the celebrations, “the Carrying Incident” where he picked up Spanish player Athenea del Castillo post match, “the Peck Incident” where he kissed Spanish player Olga Carmona on the cheek and “the Kiss Incident” which was widely publicised, and featured his unsolicited kiss with Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso.
The 35 page document outlines the timeline of events, as well as listing the submissions and statements from various parties, including Rubiales, Hermoso and both Presidents from the Football Association and New Zealand Football.
England Football Association Chair Debbie Hewitt was one of those who provided her point of view on the various occurrences, recalling the entire ordeal as “inappropriate and unnecessary.”
She also stated that during the medal ceremony Rubiales had “cupped and stroked” the face of English player Laura Coombs, and then “seemingly forcefully kissed” English player Lucy Bronze on her face.
In FIFA’s findings into their case against Luis Rubiales, president of the FA Debbie Hewitt is quoted as saying that he ‘cupped and stroked’ the face of the Laura Coombs and then he ‘seemingly forcefully kissed’ Lucy Bronze.
— Kathryn Batte (@KathrynBatte) December 6, 2023
The findings of the Luis Rubiales report
In the report’s final considerations, the Committee noted that Rubiales’ behaviour during and after the match “was considered improper, indecent and/or offensive by most (if not all) objective observers” and then went on to address each of the individual incidents separately “from the perspective of a reasonable and objective observer.”
In regards to “the Genitals Incident”, they acknowledged that Rubiales had explained that the gesture was intended as a “celebration" and was as he put it, “a very popular way to say ‘you are the best’” in Spain, although they point out that perhaps “this gesture belongs to a different period/era in Spain” and dispelled the notion that the gesture reflects “a misogynistic attitude whereby bravery and courage are defined by men's genitals.”
“The Kiss Incident” saw extensive discussion then, especially as “the most controversial and most concerning incident.”
Having laid out the facts, the Committee said that they “wished to emphasise that it was particularly concerned that the incident at hand occurred without the Player’s consent” and that they had no reason to doubt the accounts of the neutral observers, “particularly considering that the events were also witnessed by millions of spectators on TV.”
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
Luis Rubiales has been BANNED from all football-related activities for 3 YEARS.
Read here for more👇https://t.co/BRLhdzKTNg#LuisRubiales #FIFA23— Her Sport (@HerSportDotIE) October 31, 2023
They also wished to underline that Rubiales had “never apologised to the player, neither publicly nor at least in private”, that he doesn’t appear to express any “genuine remorse” in for his actions and that in his various illustrations of what happened on the day, was in fact “trying to distort reality in his favour.”
Finally then in relation to the “The Peck” and “the Carrying Incident” the Committee acknowledged that although these were not of “the same seriousness” as the other two happenings, that “they nonetheless constituted behaviours incompatible with the principles” of FIFA.
Taking all of this into account, they therefore found that Rubiales was in fact in breach of article 13 of the FDC, also known as the ‘offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play’ ruling.
They were satisfied that three year suspension from all football related activity that they imposed was going to have a sufficient and necessary “deterrent effect” on Rubiales to avoid any similar interactions like this in the future.
Read the FULL report here.
