Luis Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia. She formally accused him of sexual assault last week.
by FIFA for his conduct at the final and, after soccer’s world body opened a disciplinary case, remained defiant and hostile toward Hermoso.Rubiales said that he had told interim Spanish federation president Pedro Rocha — who replaced him when Rubiales was suspended on Aug. 26 — of his resignation late Sunday night.
Two weeks ago, Rubiales had been expected to step down amid the immediate wave of criticism for his conduct at the final, which included a lewd gesture of grabbing his crotch. Instead, in a defiant Aug. 25 speech before his federation’s general assembly, he refused to go quietly andThat led FIFA to provisionally suspend him just one day later; the Spanish government starting a motion to have him ruled unfit to hold his office; and Hermoso’s accusation of sexual assault.
“Insisting in waiting and hanging on would not contribute anything positive either the federation or Spanish soccer, among other reasons, because the powers that be would stop me from returning ,” Rubiales said in his statement. FILE - President of Spain's soccer federation Luis Rubiales, stands with Spain's Women's World Cup soccer team after being received by Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left, at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Rubiales will also resign as a vice president at UEFA, the European soccer body which pays him 250,000 euros annually in a job he was appointed to in 2019.