Former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales was detained and questioned immediately after landing in Madrid on Tuesday morning, as part of an anti-corruption investigation.
Rubiales, who resigned as RFEF president in September, having been suspended by FIFA over his kiss on Spain forward Jenni Hermoso after the Women’s World Cup final in August, was travelling back from the Dominican Republic.
That is where he was on March 20, when RFEF headquarters in Madrid and Rubiales’ home in Granada were searched as part of an investigation into alleged corruption during his five years in charge from 2018.
Officers from Spain’s Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) were waiting for Rubiales to land at Madrid-Barajas airport. Footage broadcast by Spanish TV station La Sexta showed him being led away from a plane on the tarmac and into a black minivan.
According to Guardia Civil sources, Rubiales was informed he was being indicted and his lawyer was called so they could be present during questioning. Rubiales invoked his right not to testify and was released. However, he is expected to be called to testify when a warrant for his arrest is issued by an investigating judge, the same sources said.
Guardia Civil officers seized a mobile phone and a tablet from Rubiales on Monday after travelling to the Dominican Republic, where the 46-year-old said he was “on business”. He was initially expected to return to Spain on April 6 but did so earlier.
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The RFEF’s Las Rozas headquarters in Madrid were searched as part of an investigation into alleged corruption (Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images)
On March 20, officers made seven arrests as part of an investigation into a case which has been named ‘Operacion Brody’. The potential crimes being investigated include corruption, money laundering and misuse of federation funds between 2018 and 2023. Later that day, Rubiales’ legal team communicated with the judge overseeing the investigation to say that he would cooperate.
This potentially includes the deal that saw the Supercopa de Espana, Spain’s equivalent of the Community Shield in English football, moved to be played in Saudi Arabia, and the construction work at the Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville, where the Spanish national team sometimes play home games.
Separately, Rubiales is due to go on trial over charges of alleged sexual assault and coercion, relating to his kiss on Hermoso in August.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Rubiales, who has always denied the accusations of corruption and sexual assault.
Rubiales grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on the lips after Spain’s World Cup final win over England on August 20 in Sydney, Australia, as she received her winner’s medal. Hermoso has testified that the kiss was not consensual, and that attempts were made to force her into saying the opposite.
No date has yet been set for the trial, with previous Spain women’s head coach Jorge Vilda, ex-RFEF marketing manager Ruben Rivera and former RFEF men’s national team director Albert Luque — the ex-Newcastle United striker — also facing charges of coercion, which they deny.
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(Gabriel Monnet/AFP via Getty Images)
