FIFA bans Luis Rubiales for three-year over World Cup kiss

FIFA announced on Monday that it has imposed a three-year ban on former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales due to his unwelcome kiss on the lips of World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso.

Initially, FIFA provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days after the unsolicited kiss occurred during the medal ceremony following Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup in Sydney in August.

FIFA has now extended Rubiales’ ban to cover all football-related activities for a period of three years.

Jenni Hermoso expressed her feelings of vulnerability and likened the incident to an assault in a social media statement, describing it as “vulnerable and like the victim of an assault”, with a statement on social media describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Rubiales, who maintained that the kiss was consensual, stepped down as the head of the Spanish football federation in September.

“The FIFA disciplinary committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years,” the Zurich-based organisation said in a statement.

FIFA said Rubiales had been notified of the decision on Monday and had 10 days to request a so-called motivated decision, which if requested, would be published on FIFA’s legal website.

“The decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee,” the statement said.

“FIFA reiterates its absolute commitment to respecting and protecting the integrity of all people and ensuring that the basic rules of decent conduct are upheld.”