The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed former Spanish FA (RFEF) chief Luis Rubiales’ appeal against his three-year suspension from football-related activity.
FIFA, world football’s governing body, imposed the ban on Rubiales in October 2023 following incidents at the Women’s World Cup final earlier that year, when he kissed Spain player Jenni Hermoso on the lips and earlier had grabbed his crotch in celebration. FIFA had provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days in August while it assessed the case.
Rubiales initially appealed the ban to FIFA’s own appeals committee but that was rejected in January 2024. The 47-year-old then took his case to CAS, sport’s highest court.
On Friday, CAS published its decision to dismiss Rubiales’ appeal, saying that FIFA’s sanction was “reasonable and proportional”.
“The CAS Panel determined that the behaviour of Mr Rubiales at the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 constituted multiple and serious violations of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (art.13) and saw no reason to consider the sanction to be disproportionate. The appeal by Mr Rubiales is dismissed and the Contested Decision is maintained,” CAS’ media release added. A full breakdown of the decision will be published by CAS “in due course”…
