Soccer’s ruling world body FIFA said on Saturday it had suspended Spanish federation chief Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities for three months as it investigates an incident in which he kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory.
The suspension from national and international activities takes effect immediately from Saturday, FIFA said in a statement on the action taken by disciplinary committee chief Jorge Ivan Palacio.
FIFA had opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales on Thursday over his actions last Sunday in Sydney.
Rubiales has been defiant over the kiss, which has been condemned as unwanted by Hermoso, her teammates and the Spanish government. He argues it was consensual. Earlier on Saturday the federation he heads had said it would stick by him.
However, after the FIFA statement, a spokesperson for the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said “We respect all the pronouncements of FIFA.”
In a statement hours before the FIFA move, the federation had said it would show there have been lies told about what happened by Hermoso or people speaking for her.
The statement, issued on the RFEF website, said it would take appropriate legal action to defend Rubiales’s honour, but did not say what the action would consist of.
Players, government denounce Rubiales
Rubiales refused on Friday to resign as RFEF chief, seeking to defend his behaviour and calling the kiss “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual.”
Hermoso said she did not consent to the kiss and felt “vulnerable and the victim of an aggression.”
The Spanish government cannot fire Rubiales but has strongly denounced his actions and said on Friday it was seeking to get him suspended using a legal procedure before a sports tribunal.
The Spain women’s team has also mutinied. In a joint statement sent via their FUTPRO union on Friday evening, all 23 of the cup-winning squad including Hermoso, as well as 32 other squad members, said they would not play internationals while Rubiales remains head of the federation.
In the same statement, Hermoso denied Rubiales’s contention that the kiss he gave her was consensual, writing, “I want to clarify that, as was seen in the images, at no time did I consent to the kiss he gave me and, of course, in no case did I seek to lift the president.”
Spain’s women’s soccer team won’t play until federation head resigns
Spain’s Women’s World Cup champion soccer team say they won’t play until the head of the country’s soccer federation steps down after he non-consensually kissed player Jenni Hermoso.
Federation vowed to fight ‘lies’
In its statement early on Saturday, the federation said: “The RFEF and the President, given the seriousness of the content of the press release from the Futpro Union, will initiate the corresponding legal actions.”
“Where there is rule of law … opinions are counteracted with facts and evidence, and lies are rebutted in court.”
“The RFEF and the President will show each of the lies that are spread either by someone on behalf of the player or, if applicable, by the player herself,” it said.
The statement was accompanied by four photos of the event last Sunday that it said illustrated Rubiales’s contention that Hermoso lifted him by the hips.
Reuters could not immediately reach an official of the FUTPRO union by telephone for comment.
Sponsors upset
Two of the women’s team’s sponsors expressed support for the players on Friday.
Flag-carrier Iberia, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group, said: “When offensive situations occur, inappropriate for a developed, modern and egalitarian society such as Spain’s, Iberia supports the appropriate and pertinent measures that must be taken to preserve the rights and dignity of athletes.”
Power company Iberdrola was quoted by Spanish news agency EFE as saying: “We observe with great concern the situation which has developed in the past few days which has tarnished the great victory of the national team.”
Hermoso is seen in a Women’s World Cup match in Wellington, N.Z., on July 31. The Spanish soccer federation had threatened legal action over Hermoso’s comments that she did not consent to Rubiales’s kiss. (John Cowpland/The Associated Press)
Rubiales had been widely expected to resign at an emergency meeting of the federation on Friday. Instead he said repeatedly that he would not quit and complained that “false feminists” were “trying to kill me.”
Acting Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz called his speech on Friday “unacceptable.” She wrote on social media: “The government must act and take urgent measures: impunity for macho actions is over. Rubiales cannot continue in office.”
Gender issues have become a prominent topic in Spain in recent years. Tens of thousands of women have taken part in street marches protesting sexual abuse and violence.
The Socialist-led coalition government has presided over legal reforms including around equal pay, abortion, sex work and transgender rights.
Rubiales’s comments and the supportive reaction he got from many in the audience at the federation meeting on Friday were widely scorned on social media. The losing England national team said: “We all stand with you, @jennihermoso and all players of the Spanish team.”
The Current21:15Why the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup may be a win for women’s soccer
Then, as England and Spain get set to face off in Sunday’s final, we look back at what has been a memorable 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup — and why it may be a watershed moment for women’s soccer.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
