2023-08-28 14:56:15
BarcelonaThe case of Rubiales is progressing in the offices and in the streets. At times it is a serious debate and at other times it seems like a comedy. On the same day that the heavyweights of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) turned their backs on Rubiales for the first time, the Prosecutor’s Office went into action investigating the case. And on the same day hundreds of people demonstrated in Madrid in favor of Jennifer Hermoso, but in Motril the mother of the suspended president started a hunger strike. With the ban that FIFA has imposed on him to contact Jenni Hermoso, Rubiales has activated his female relatives to come out to defend him and continue to focus on the player. The mother complains of “the inhumane and bloody hunt” against her son “for something he doesn’t deserve”, locked up in the church of the Divine Shepherdess of the Capuchins. He prays for his son, increasingly alone and cornered. This Monday was full of bad news for Rubiales.
After 10 o’clock at night, the meeting of the commission of presidents of regional and territorial federations of the RFEF ended in Madrid. Many of those who recently applauded Rubiales’ speeches are now turning their backs on him. In a statement after more than 7 hours of meeting they explained that “after the recent events and the unacceptable behaviors that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, the presidents request that, immediately, Luis Rubiales submit his resignation as president of the RFEF”.
And they added: “We will urge the corresponding bodies for a deep and imminent organic restructuring in strategic positions of the Federation to give way to a new stage of management in Spanish football”. And they did it by asking President Pedro Rocha to be in charge of taking it forward. In other words, they put their trust in the interim president, the manager from Extremadura. In the statement, on the other hand, they say nothing about the fate of the two selectors, Luis de la Fuente and Jorge Vilda. At the moment they are still in charge of the men’s and women’s teams, despite their support for Rubiales at the last RFEF assembly. The two ended up making a statement disassociating themselves from Rubiales, but their fate hangs in the balance. For the first time the Praetorian Guard of Rubiales abandons him. Inside the RFEF, the slogan seems clear: that the Andalusian pay for his sins, make some changes and continue to command.
In its statement, the council also reports that “we have urged President Pedro Rocha to immediately withdraw the latest communication on behalf of the Federation with FIFA and UEFA that we have known today.” That is to say, without mentioning it, they talk about Rubiales’ strategy to defend himself, when he activated his right-hand man, the Catalan Andreu Camps, who went to seek the protection of UEFA. The general secretary denounced that the intervention of the government of Pedro Sánchez goes against the statutes of the European state, which emphasize that “any body or decision of a body that has not been chosen without the influence of third parties will not be recognized” . UEFA has not paid attention to the request of Camps and Rubiales, but just in case, the RFEF is already asking to extract value from this desperate strategy.
The case is being followed closely by the central government. The president of the Superior Sports Council, Víctor Francos, held a press conference in Tarragona where he admitted that they had no news from the Sports Administrative Court (TAD) or the RFEF: “They are still meeting. We are waiting”, he said . The president of the CSD is waiting for the TAD, which met yesterday to deal with the case, to respond to the complaint for a possible violation of the sports law by Rubiales. If the TAD initiates the complaint, Francos admitted that he will call the CSD management committee to propose the suspension of Rubiales. The TAD, for now, seems to need more time. Francos acknowledged his concern for the image offered by Spanish sport: “I’m worried. Two weeks ago we were in a better position for the 2030 World Cup than today, but we are a stubborn government and we are ready to explain to FIFA, UEFA and all international federations that Spanish sport is not what we have seen these days, and neither is Spanish football “.
The Prosecutor’s Office takes action
And all this happened on the same day that the National Prosecutor’s Office came into play in the Rubiales case. After receiving several complaints, he opened an investigation to clarify whether there is a crime in the case of the forced kiss on Jenni Hermoso. The public ministry will ask Hermoso if he wants to denounce Rubiales. In a statement they explain that “following the public demonstrations made by Hermoso, the sexual act was not consented” and that “the significance of these statements must be determined”. That is why they will address the player “with the purpose of offering her shares, giving her the possibility that, within 15 days, she will contact the Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court, in order to ‘inform her of her rights as a victim of an alleged crime of sexual assault’. The Prosecutor’s Office can choose to file a complaint or not once the investigation is over, although according to experts it is not usual to do so in cases where there is no complaint from the victim. The Prosecutor’s Office understands that the National Court is the competent body for knowledge of the facts because they are allegedly criminal acts committed by Spaniards abroad. The siege on Rubiales is getting tighter and tighter.
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