2023-08-23 07:45:32
BarcelonaThe pressure on the figure of Luis Rubiales grows every day that passes since he kissed the Spanish women’s team player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth, without consent. The president of the RFEF, who also made obscene gestures from the stands of the stadium that hosted the World Cup final, already knows from the mouth of the highest political representative of the State, Pedro Sánchez, that with his apology from ‘this Monday through a video may not be enough to save the position.
That is why the Andalusian leader was forced to move late yesterday by calling an Extraordinary Assembly for Friday at 12 at the Ciudad del Fútbol de las Rozas with the aim of debating the matter, protected by more than probable support from the territorial federations, who asked him to take this step. But what could threaten the continuity of Rubiales in the state that governs Spanish football?
A suspension ordered by TAD
The Sports Administrative Court (TAD), the highest instance of sports justice in Spain, has already received a complaint from Miguel Galán, director of the CENAFE coach training center, against Rubiales. He considers that there is a breach of the sports law (39/2022) for the sexist act that involves the kiss on the mouth of the president of the RFEF in Hermoso. “According to the final provision 1a of this law, this is an intolerable sexist act […]. It is therefore up to the Superior Sports Council (CSD) to transfer my complaint to the TAD to start a file and investigate the act regulated by the sports law,” points out Galán in his letter. The CSD, body led by Víctor Francos from Cerdanyola, has not yet taken the step requested by the complainant, but if he finally transfers the complaint to the TAD and the cited file is opened, Rubiales could be suspended from office, just as happened in 2017 with Ángel María Villar, former president of the RFEF, when he was jailed for the Soule case.Also Sumar, through the second vice-president of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, announced yesterday that he has reported Rubiales to the CSD.
Up to two years of disqualification from holding office
Along these lines, the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), chaired by David Aganzo, issued a statement demanding that the provisions of the new Sports Law, in force since last year, be applied to Rubiales . In its text, it considers the following behaviors to be “racist, xenophobic or intolerable acts in sport”: “The actions that, following the development of a test, competition or sports show or close to its celebration, or in the sports venues […] constitute harassment, understanding as such any unwanted behavior related to a person’s racial or ethnic, geographic or social origin, as well as religion or convictions, disability, age, sex or sexual orientation, which aims or as a consequence to attack their dignity and create an intimidating, humiliating and offensive environment”. One of the applicable sanctions is “disqualification from holding positions in the sports organization for a period of between one month and two years”.
The sexual assault protocol of the RFEF
The RFEF itself has an action protocol against sexual violence that contains a section that includes the situations, attitudes and behaviors related to it. Among others, there is “forcibly kissing”. If you have suffered sexual violence or are aware that someone in the RFEF’s field of activity has suffered sexual violence, the contact person is the protection delegate. From here, a protocol is activated that goes through the assessment of the case by an advisory committee, which can adopt precautionary measures and is the one that has the power to make a resolution proposal.
Right now the advisory committee is made up of general secretary Andreu Camps; the head of women’s arbitration, Yolanda Parga; the president of the National Coaches Committee, David Gutiérrez; and the protection delegate María Dolores Martínez. In any case, the final resolution will be dictated by the presidency of the RFEF. In other words, none other than Rubiales himself. The measures that the state can adopt in relation to the aggressor are to prohibit him from accessing the RFEF’s facilities, suspend him from the activity for a certain period or withdraw his license. Former referee Xavier Estrada Fernández has requested in writing the activation of this protocol on the occasion of Rubiales’ kiss in Hermoso. He has also requested the resignation of the leader.
In the other hand, Relief va explain that the RFEF president tried to get the national team striker to appear in the apology video with him and that she refused despite Vilda’s attempts to get her to reconsider her stance. This sports portal also reported that Hermoso did not approve the statements following the events that the state distributed hours later. Consulted by the ARA, official RFEF sources deny that the attacker did not give the green light to his words and explain that the internal doubt was whether Hermoso would speak with a recorded or written statement.
The criminal route can lead to one to four years in prison
Beyond the sanctions and the consequences for Rubiales’ professional activity, there is also the possibility of initiating criminal proceedings. The current Penal Code considers that he is responsible for sexual assault “anyone who commits any act that attacks the sexual freedom of another person without their consent […]. Acts of sexual content that are committed using violence, intimidation or abuse based on a situation of superiority or vulnerability of the victim are considered sexual assault.” The stipulated punishment ranges from one to four years in prison, although the sentencing body can reduce it to a fine of between 18 and 24 months.
However, some experts see the launch of this route as far away. This is the case of criminal law professor at the UAB Mercedes García Aran: “I think it would be an exaggeration to go to the Penal Code. We are facing a lack of respect and a sexist and politically unpresentable act, but not all actions of this type they have to go through the criminal process.” In almost any situation, for the case to reach the criminal court, it would have to be the person affected, in this case Hermoso, who filed the complaint. “Only in serious cases could the fiscal ministry enter ex officio”, points out García Aran. The jurist Jordi Nieva-Fenoll expresses himself in the same line, who believes that the Prosecutor’s Office “would only act in case of extreme weakness of the victim”, although at the same time he admits that “Rubiales, as president of the RFEF, has a position of some pre-eminence over Hermoso, who is a player for one of the teams governed by the RFEF”.
The Prosecutor’s Office can enter ex officio
On the other hand, the central government’s delegate for gender violence, Victoria Rosell, explained yesterday in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio that kissing without consent “would constitute a crime”. In addition, he reported that the crime does not prescribe until five years. Javier Pérez Royo, jurist and professor of constitutional law at the University of Seville, expressed himself with the same force in the ARA. “No doubt there is a crime. It is a crime to kiss a woman without her consent in a position of authority and in front of the whole world. With the law of the only yes is yes it ceases to be an abuse to be a crime, a sexual assault. It is a violation of personal privacy and moral integrity,” explains Pérez Royo. “The Prosecutor’s Office itself should have already transferred it to the appropriate court before the competent court, which is surely the National Court, because the fact took place abroad”, concludes the professor.
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