It’s hard to believe Luis Rubiales is still the president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after all the dirt that has been dug up on him in the last 6 months or so.
Many would’ve resigned or given up for much less, but it’s clear Rubiales values his position and the work he’s doing. Like he once said himself during a press conference after explaining how he fractured both legs when he was just a month old: “I’m a fighter”.
Yet every time things seem to cool down for Rubiales, something else comes up, and it’s usually the Spanish news outlet ‘El Confidencial’ who seem to have the best exclusives on him, including private conversations being revealed. With Gerard Piqué, with Sergio Ramos and more recently a personal WhatsApp chat with his father from 2020 in which he admitted Villarreal, Sevilla and Valencia are the teams he hates the most, in that order. He also typed “Patético” somewhere along that conversation, which is a derogatory way of saying Atlético (de Madrid) and which translates as pathetic.
What also stands out his how he starts off this fragment of conversation, using very colloquial Spanish to say something that can translate as: “Let’s see if we can beat these idiots”. In reference to a Real Madrid - Sevilla match that was taking place during the time of the chat and in which Rubiales implies he’s a Madrid supporter.
Consequently, Villarreal, Sevilla and Valencia released a joint statement underlining how his words are “unacceptable coming from a person who holds a position of such responsibility and who must look after the interests of all Spanish football clubs equally”. They’ve also urged him to rectify and apologise publicly.
This comes shortly after 15 players of the Women’s Spanish National team refused to play under Jorge Vilda, by sending the RFEF a private e-mail which was then leaked to the press. Rubiales showed his unconditional support towards Vilda in what’s proving to be a very tricky affair for him, reminding many of how things were handled when he fired Julen Lopetegui after Real Madrid had announced he’d be their manager after the World Cup.
Other shocking attacks towards Rubiales include that of his own uncle, Juan Rubiales, who was the ex-Chief of Staff of the Spanish Federation. He revealed to the press that he’d spent the Federations money on orgies for President Luis Rubiales, even though the RFEF came out denying this information and saying this words were out of spite and that no proof whatsoever had been given.
Whether true or not, it’s pretty clear that quite a few people want Rubiales gone. His decisions have definitely been bothering many people of power and they’re willing to keep shattering his reputation until the pressure is unbearable and he’s forced to resign or somehow voted out.