Spanish Federation President's Status Determined Following Kiss Controversy

Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales has resigned from his role following a controversial incident in which he gave Spain forward Jennifer Hermoso an unwanted kiss during the team's post-match medal celebration of the 2023 World Cup last month.

Rubiales revealed his decision in an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan on Sunday (September 11).

"Yes, I'm going to [resign]," Rubiales confirmed when asked by Morgan whether he considered stepping down from the role amid the backlash. "It's cause I cannot continue my work."

Rubiales also shared a Spanish news release confirming his decision on Sunday but maintained his innocence.

"I will defend my honorability. I will defend my innocence. I have faith in the future. I have faith in the truth. Thank you all," Rubiales wrote in a translated post on his X account.

Last week, Hermoso filed an official complaint against Rubiales over the unwanted kiss.

“Yesterday, Ms. Jennifer Hermoso submitted a complaint for the events of which you are all aware," a spokesperson for the Spanish prosecutor's office confirmed in a statement to CNN on Wednesday (September 6), which was made at the office of the state attorney general in order to protect the victim's privacy.

“The national court’s prosecutor’s office will file a complaint as soon as possible,” the spokesman added.

The incident took place after Spain defeated England, 1-0, on August 20, to win its first women's World Cup trophy. Hermoso previously said the kiss "left her in a state of shock" and acknowledged that "no person in any workplace should be the victim of this type of nonconsensual behavior," via the New York Daily News.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation, which previously issued a sweeping apology for the kiss, didn't include any mention of Rubiales or the incident in its announcement of former coach Jorge Vilda's termination on Tuesday (September 5).

Rubiales refused to step down from his position as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, which led to FIFA, soccer's global governing body, suspending him 90 days. Vilda initially voiced his support of Rubiales amid calls for him to be replaced but eventually became more critical of the incident, claiming it tarnished "a well-deserved victory for our players and our country."

The Royal Spanish Federation also acknowledged the "damage caused" by the kiss to "Spanish society" in a lengthy statement shared online.

"Those actions do not reflect at all the values of the whole Spanish society, its institutions, its representatives, its athletes and the leaders of Spanish sport," the federation said. "Spanish society is an example of tolerance and civility, in all social and political spheres and has been an example of behavior and sporting decorum, as it has demonstrated for decades in all sporting events in which it has participated."

"That nobility and international prestige of our society and our sport have been tarnished in recent days by the actions of Mr. Luis Rubiales," the federation added. "The damage caused to Spanish football, to Spanish sport, to Spanish society and to the values of football and sport as a whole has been enormous."