Spanish FA to elect new leadership as Rubiales protests innocence
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will elect a new leadership on May 6 and has also pledged to cooperate in a criminal investigation on suspicion of corruption during the term of past president Luis Rubiales.
The RFEF said in a statement late Wednesday that interim leader Pedro Rocha was stepping down as head of management commission that had run the federation since Rubiales' resignation in autumn, because he would run for the presidency.
The announcement came hours after Rubiales was detained for a while and questioned by police after returning from the Dominican Republic.
It is expected that he will face an investigating judge within the next days.
Rubiales was already in the Dominican Republic when the Guardia Civil raided RFEF offices and other properties, including his home in Granada in mid-March in connection with a corruption and money laundering investigation into contracts made during his five years as RFEF president 2018-2023.
They are said to include the deal to hold the Spanish Super Cup as a four-team tournament in Saudi Arabia, completed by Rubiales together with businessman and former Barcelona player Gerard Pique.
The RFEF pledged full cooperation and said it has "given the green light to a forensic audit" and would "initiate criminal proceedings against all those who may have caused economic or reputational damage to the institution."
The statement said the RFEF wants to "leave behind a turbulent period that has seriously damaged the image of Spanish football."
Rubiales stepped down in September after outrage in Spain and abroad that he kissed Spanish player Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the World Cup final in August without her consent.
He is under criminal investigation over that incident as well in Spain, and was banned for three years from football activities by the world governing body FIFA.
Rubiales has protested his innocence in both affairs and repeated it in an interview with La Sexta late Wednesday.
Rubiales named reports that he had money and other assets abroad "a lie" and that "the money in my bank account is the result of my work and my savings."
In the interview, conducted in the Dominican Republic before his return to Spain, he also said that the kiss with Hermoso was consensual.
"You can't question Mrs Hermoso's claims, but you can question mine. Why? Because I'm a man?" he said.
