A second official complaint has been lodged against Luis Rubiales over his actions at the end of the Women's World Cup final on Sunday. The La Liga first division referee and city councillor for ERC in Lleida, Xavier Estrada Fernández, has filed a complaint against Rubiales, president of the Real Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), for the kiss without consent that he planted on the lips of footballer Jennifer Hermoso during the awarding of medals following the Spanish national team's victory in the World Cup final. Estrada Fernández is the same referee who brought the Negreira case to court, under which FC Barcelona club is accused of massive payments to a football referee. Now, he has demanded that the Federation apply its own protocols to "the unacceptable and shameful behaviour" of Rubiales, and he has also asked the RFEF head to resign. It is the second complaint to be laid against Rubiales today from within the world of Spanish football.
Request to apply the RFEF's own sexual violence protocol against Rubiales
In a letter, Estrada has asked the organization which Rubiales himself leads to implement its own protocol against sexual violence, which includes "forced kissing" as an expression of this type of violence. The referee notes that the protocol defines sexual violence as "a serious form of violation of fundamental rights such as dignity, physical and moral integrity, and sexual freedom; a problem that affects women and men of all ages, in all areas of society".
The protocol specifies that, once a complaint has been submitted, the Delegate for Protection, a position held by the female referee María Dolores Martínez Madrona, will meet with the affected parties. If the actions are minor, there will be attempt to resolve it through mediation, but in the case of a serious situation, the delegate will send a report to the federation's advisory committee, which will have to take the appropriate measures. This committee is made up of Andreu Camps, general secretary of the RFEF and very close to Rubiales; Yolanda Parga, head of women's refereeing, and David Gutiérrez, president of the national coaches' committee.
Second complaint against the RFEF head
With that of Estrada Fernández, Rubiales now has two complaints against him. The first was from the president of Spain's national training centre for football coaches (CENAFE), Miguel Galán, who has lodged a complaint against Rubiales with the Higher Sports Council (CSD) for breaching Sports Law 39/2022, after committing "an intolerable sexist act". It was a complaint made by Galán to the CSD which led to the dismissal of a previous RFEF president, Ángel María Villar, who was removed from this post by Spain's Sports Administrative Tribunal in 2017.
Below, the full Spanish text of the Protocol for Action against Sexual Violence, dated 27th June 2023, a document of the RFEF - the organization headed by Luis Rubiales himself.