Rubiales’ future may depend on Hermoso testimony
Luis Rubiales left Moncloa last Tuesday convinced that he needed to strengthen his position as president of the Federation after seeing, with a cold greeting from Pedro Sánchez and his subsequent statements, that he was "abandoned to his fate" by the PSOE leader. Then came another barrage from the Popular Party and the day ended with Sumar's denunciation. The chief from Motril called an emergency meeting of his party on the third floor of the Ciudad Deportiva del Fútbol building to put together a strategy in the face of "the betrayal of the Government", as sources from the Federation confirmed at the last minute to El Periódico de España, part of the Prensa Ibérica group.
A telematic meeting with several territorial presidents, whom Rubiales considers his guardians ended up confirming the holding of an extraordinary assembly this coming Friday that will serve to shield the Andalusian leader from "political and media harassment" after the incident of the president's kiss with the footballer Jenni Hermoso. An assembly in which the attendees will redouble their confidence in Rubiales, who at no time has the idea of resigning and leaving his position crossed his mind, because that would also entail the inevitable departure from other positions of responsibility in institutions such as UEFA, where he has been vice president of the Executive Committee since May 2019, a position in which he earns 250,000 euros per year.
The assembly, which includes not only the presidents of the regional associations but also the different groups such as players and referees, will close ranks around its president, and will highlight the successes achieved with the Women's World Cup and the Nations League. Federation sources also confirm that Rubiales will go one step further to clean up his image by apologising in a more forceful way, thus trying to soften the impact of the information confirming that the president and Jorge Vilda had pressured Hermoso and her family so that the player would appear in the video recorded in Doha by the leader apologising.
In parallel to the announcement of the celebration of the assembly, and based on the latest events, the Federation has informed that "the RFEF's internal proceedings regarding Integrity issues are open, as well as the rest of the applicable protocols". A decision that implies the activation of the Advisory Committee against Sexual Abuse RFEF, which forces the CSD to wait for its resolution to act, allowing Rubiales to gain time, and thus be able to hold the assembly to come out of it strengthened.
Rubiales will emerge from the assembly with the praise of the crowds, but even so his plan to perpetuate himself in office has some weaknesses. The government cannot dismiss him or make him resign from office because it is the assembly members who elect him, but it does have the tools to disqualify him for a period of time. To do so, the Consejo Superior de Deportes, presided by Víctor Francos, must take some of the three complaints that have been made to the Tribunal Administrativo del Deporte (TAD), the highest institutional authority in sports matters: Miguel Galán (director of the CENAFE training centre for coaches), the former referee Estrada Fernández and the Sumar party, of vice-president Yolanda Díaz.
Once the disciplinary file has been submitted to the CAS at the request of the CSD, an investigating judge of the collegiate body draws up a report. Rubiales can then be disqualified until CAS makes a final ruling on the allegations. Francos has already confirmed that he has "formally asked the Federation to open proceedings as a matter of urgency and if they do not do so, the CSD will act. In the next few days I hope to read the resolution and that, from there, we can start to move forward". Behind these proceedings, the CSD prioritises the testimony of Jenni Hermoso, the 'victim' of Rubiales' kiss, whose statements were passed on to EFE from the Federation that were not made by the player, grossly manipulating them in favour of the leader. Francos also warned in the microphones of El Larguero on the SER radio station that "obviously the statement of the protagonist will illuminate the whole file and the decision to raise the file to the CAS will depend on whether it classifies the situation as serious or very serious".
The last alternative to oust Rubiales from the presidency of the federation is a motion of censure, but this process cannot be presented during the first six months of the term of office or when there are between one year and six months to go before elections are held. The RFEF will hold elections next summer, so the motion would be ruled out for the time being. To carry it through, 46 votes are needed out of 140 in an assembly that is dominated with an iron fist by the Montril born man. It's viewed as unviable.
The situation, therefore, offers a scenario with the Consejo Superior de Deportes waiting for the proceedings of a Federation that is gaining time to hold an assembly in which Rubiales can also announce new measures in favour of women's football to cover up the incident with Jenni Hermoso, while the CSD receives the testimony of the player and decides whether to take any of the complaints to the Tribunal Administrativo del Deporte (TAD) and with it could disqualify the leader temporarily until the resolution of the lawsuit. As fate would have it, Rubiales now hangs on the testimony of Jenni Hermoso, the player he kissed without her consent.
