Spain’s former men’s national team director Albert Luque and their former marketing director Ruben Rivera have been sacked as part of the fallout from former president Luis Rubiales’ kiss on Jennifer Hermoso.
The ex-Newcastle United striker Luque and Rivera were both suspended from their positions in March until the legal case over the kiss was “clarified” and Spanish FA (RFEF) president Pedro Rocha has now sacked them.
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Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for Rubiales, consisting of one year for the charge of alleged sexual assault and one and a half years for alleged coercion.
The second charge also applied to Luque, Rivera and Jorge Vilda, the World Cup-winning former head coach of the women’s team.
Rubiales has always maintained the kiss on Hermoso was consensual; Hermoso has testified the kiss was not consensual. Spanish media have previously reported that Vilda, Rivera and Luque have denied the charge of coercion in court testimonies.
Two more figures at the RFEF have been sacked after the separate investigation into corruption during Rubiales’ five years in charge from 2018-2023.
They are the RFEF’s former legal director Pedro Gonzalez Seguro and its former human resources director Jose Javier Jimenez, known as…
