Credit: Twitter
RFEF president Luis Rubiales was provisionally suspended by FIFA for his kiss with Jenni Hermoso in the aftermath of Spain's World Cup win. Rubiales also refused to resign and gave a long monologue in the process. Now, Spanish clubs may face the wrath of UEFA because of this scandal, which could result in expulsion from European club competitions.
According to the Daily Mail, the Spanish FA has asked UEFA to consider expulsion because of the Spanish government's intervention in the scandal. If this request is granted, then the most successful teams in Europe, like Barcelona and Real Madrid, will be out of the Champions League. Other UCL-bound teams like Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad, Villarreal and Real Betis for the Europa League, and Osasuna for the Conference League will also be affected.
This action is further moving closer to happening after Spanish FA chief Andreu Camps criticised the Spanish government for weighing in on the scandal. The UEFA rules state that its members 'shall manage their affairs independently and without undue influence from third parties. Anybody or decision of a body that has not been elected or appointed in accordance with said procedure, even provisionally, will not be recognized by UEFA'.
According to Onda Cero, the reason UEFA has not yet condemned Rubiales’ actions is because of President Aleksander Čeferin’s friendship with the Spanish FA president. RFEF's interim president Pedro Rocha is now in a tough spot as he has to choose whether to maintain the threat from general secretary Camps, a long-term ally of Rubiales, to UEFA or order it to be withdrawn, and whether to remove Camps from his position.
Spanish radio station Onda Cero reportedly stated that the Spanish FA has threatened to leave UEFA if Rubiales is removed as the president. This could result in the removal of Spanish clubs from the European competitions.
The Spanish government cannot fire Rubiales but has strongly denounced his actions and said that it was seeking to get him suspended using a legal procedure before a sports tribunal. Meanwhile, Angeles Béjar, Luis Rubiales’ mother, has locked herself inside the church of the Divine Shepherdess in their hometown of Motril, Andalusia, in protest of her son’s ‘witchhunt’.
