UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has said that the European football governing body will not sanction Luis Rubiales, who has been under fire since kissing Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth.
Spain’s football federation (RFEF) president Rubiales has been widely condemned for grabbing and then kissing Spain forward Hermoso during the medal presentation ceremony in Sydney, Australia on August 20 moments after the team won their first-ever Women’s World Cup title.
Although Ceferin described Rubiales’ conduct as ‘inappropriate’, he said UEFA would not interfere with FIFA’s disciplinary investigation into the Spanish football chief.
World football ruling body FIFA suspended Rubiales from all football-related activities for three months on Saturday as it investigates the kiss scandal, while UEFA had not made a statement until Ceferin spoke yesterday.
FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales, who has refused to resign despite strident calls for him to do so, and instead said he would use the probe to prove his innocence.
“Of course, what he did was inappropriate. We all know it. I hope he knows it was inappropriate. This is enough for the moment because the independent disciplinary bodies will decide,” Ceferin told French newspaper L’Equipe yesterday.
Rubiales, 46, has been defiant over the kiss — which has been condemned as unwanted by Hermoso, her team mates, fans, footballers union and the Spanish government — insisting that it was consensual.
“His case is in the hands of the disciplinary body of the International Federation (FIFA). Any comments I might make would sound like pressure,” Ceferin added.
“He is suspended from all his functions, everywhere. There is no need to do it twice.”
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