Rubiales had been on the middle of a scandal that had gone far past Spain’s borders and the world of sport after he kissed Jenni Hermoso throughout the globally televised awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia.

“After my swift suspension by FIFA, and the rest of the cases building against me, it is clear that I cannot return to the post,” Rubiales mentioned on Sunday in a message posted on X, previously referred to as Twitter.

He had already been briefly suspended from his job by FIFA for his conduct on the closing and, after soccer’s world physique opened a disciplinary case, remained defiant and hostile towards those that criticized him.

Then got here essentially the most critical risk but to Rubiales, when Spanish state prosecutors accused him on Friday of sexual assault and coercion after the undesirable kiss, two days after Hermoso formally accused him of sexual assault.

Once essentially the most highly effective man in Spanish soccer, Rubiales was the reason for his personal undoing for a kiss that he insisted was carried out in a “moment of jubilation” and that was just like one he “would have given his daughters.” The overwhelming view in Spain — from followers, gamers and politicians — strongly disagreed and noticed it as a a sexist act and the abuse of authority.

“The former president of the Spanish soccer federation has done what he had to do,” Spain’s Secretary of State for Sport Víctor Francos informed Spain’s Cadena SER radio. “I think it is what practically the entirety of Spanish society had asked him to do.”

Rubiales mentioned he additionally resigned as UEFA vp as a result of reputational hazard the scandal might inflict on Spain’s joint bid to host the 2030 males’s World Cup together with Portugal, Morocco and probably Ukraine.

Rubiales mentioned that he had informed interim Spanish federation president Pedro Rocha — who changed him when Rubiales was suspended on Aug. 26 — of his resignation late Sunday night time. The Spanish federation confirmed Rubiales’ resignation in an announcement, including that it might observe its statutes and name an election for a brand new president.

Also Sunday, Rubiales mentioned “I am going to (resign), I cannot continue my work,” in reply to a query from TV host Piers Morgan on Britain’s TalkTV. Clips from the present had been launched Sunday at an analogous time to Rubiales’ social media put up showing.

“My father, my daughters, I spoke with them … and a few buddies very near me, they usually say to me ‘Luis, now you have to focus on your dignity and to continue your life, because if not, probably you are going to damage people you love, and the sport you love,’» Rubiales told Morgan.

“In this situation now, (it is) the thing I have to do.”

Two weeks ago, Rubiales had been expected to step down amid the immediate wave of criticism for his conduct at the final, which included a lewd gesture of grabbing his crotch, with Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter, Princess Sofía, nearby in the stands. Instead, in a defiant Aug. 25 speech before his federation’s general assembly, he refused to go quietly and claimed he was victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.”

That led FIFA to provisionally suspend him just one day later; the Spanish government starting a motion to have him ruled unfit to hold his office; and Hermoso’s accusation of sexual assault.

Rubiales’ behavior at one of soccer’s premier global events had drawn scorn from Spain’s politicians, its soccer leagues, clubs, players and fans. Many hope that it could lead to a “Me Too» motion in Spanish soccer. The uproar in opposition to Rubiales coincides with a strike by Spain’s ladies’s league as its gamers name for increased wages.

Rubiales’ solely public supporters — apart from his mom, who held a short-lived starvation strike in a church in southern Spain — quickly deserted him. Those included the coaches of Spain’s ladies’s and males’s groups. His personal federation additionally publicly requested him to step down.

After Spain’s state prosecutors opened the door to him going through legal prices – and even doable jail time if convicted — Rubiales lastly agreed to resign.

“Insisting in ready and hanging on wouldn’t contribute something constructive (for) both the federation or Spanish soccer, amongst different causes, as a result of the powers that be would cease me from returning (to my job),” Rubiales mentioned in his assertion.

After Rubiales accused Hermoso of mendacity about what he mentioned was a kiss she had consented to, Spain’s ladies world champions, together with dozens of gamers, refused to play once more for his or her nation till there have been adjustments within the federation’s management. The firing of the unpopular ladies’s workforce coach was not sufficient by itself for them to come back again.

No. 2-ranked Spain is scheduled to begin the Women’s Nations League on Sept. 22 in a go to to top-ranked Sweden. Spain beat Sweden within the World Cup semifinals.

Hermoso, 33, now performs for Mexican membership Pachuca after a protracted profession in Europe. She helped Barcelona win the 2021 Women’s Champions League, and got here second in Ballon d’Or voting to teammate Alexia Putellas that very same yr.

Rubiales can even resign as a vp at UEFA, the European soccer physique which pays him 250,000 euros ($268,000) yearly in a job he was appointed to in 2019. He first needed to be elected onto UEFA’s govt committee by European soccer federations. UEFA has taken no motion in opposition to Rubiales, even after FIFA opened a disciplinary case 18 days in the past.

MEN’S WORLD CUP

Spain’s authorities had expressed its considerations that Rubiales would find yourself hurting Spain’s joint bid to host the 2030 version of the lads’s World Cup. Rubiales, who had led the bid, seems to have lastly agreed, in accordance with his assertion, whereas nonetheless sustaining his perception that he was being too harshly judged.

“I don’t want Spanish soccer to be hurt by this exaggerated campaign against me, and above all, I take this decision after being assured that my exit would help contribute to the stability that will allow both Europe and Africa to stay united for their dream of 2030, which will permit the greatest sporting event in the world to go to our country,” he mentioned.

The bid has been strongly favored to win the internet hosting rights in a marketing campaign that FIFA needs determined by late 2024.

An election to interchange Rubiales on the UEFA ruling committee will be held in Madrid subsequent February when the Spanish federation hosts the following annual assembly of UEFA member federations.

SAUDI DEAL

Rubiales, 46, is a former participant and head of Spain’s essential gamers union. He had run the federation since 2018.

He has not shied away from controversy since however, proving to be a shrewd deal maker, he shored up inside assist by boosting revenues for the federation and spreading them round.

In half, Rubiales was tolerated as a result of he was thought-about higher than his predecessor, Ángel Maria Villar, who was in energy for almost three many years earlier than he was arrested on suspicion of corruption.

Rubiales made 339,000 euros ($365,000) in 2021 after taxes for presiding over the federation with a funds of 382 million euros ($412 million). The federation runs Spain’s males’s and ladies’s nationwide soccer groups and its semi-professional and beginner soccer leagues. It additionally organizes the referees. The authorities maintains some oversight of the entity however it can’t title or take away its executives.

Rubiales’ largest determination was to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia – now the massive draw for prime European expertise like Cristiano Ronaldo – in change for $40 million a yr. The golf equipment and federation liked the money, however the transfer was criticized by ladies’s and human rights teams for the regime’s remedy of girls and minorities. Spanish authorities additionally scrutinized the deal, and an investigative decide is probing the legality of the Super Cup contract s.

The scandal that Rubiales provoked not solely drew consideration away from the best victory for ladies’s soccer in Spain. It additionally tarnished Spain’s best achievement in soccer general — in each males’s and ladies’s groups — since he took cost earlier than ultimately resulting in his personal downfall.