Luis Rubiales: ex-Spanish FA boss handed three-year ban from sport by FIFA after Jenni Hermoso kiss

Former Spanish Football Association chief Luis Rubiales has been handed a three-year ban from all football-related activities by FIFA after he sparked major controversy by kissing Spanish Women's player Jenni Hermoso on the lips.

Rubiales kiss the Spanish striker on the lips after the team's triumph in the World Cup final against England earlier this year. While the Spanish FA boss claimed that the kiss was "consensual" and "mutual", Hermoso denied this and filed a legal complaint against him in relation to the incident.

He originally refused to resign from the Spanish football federation, with players walking out on strike in response. He reversed his decision and stepped down in September 2023, after FIFA had provisionally banned him.

The ban has now been cemented, with FIFA saying in a statement: "The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code. This case relates to the events that occurred during the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ on 20 August 2023, for which Mr Rubiales had been provisionally suspended for an initial period of 90 days.

"Mr Rubiales has been notified of the terms of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision today. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, he has ten days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee."