Soccer

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday dismissed an appeal by former Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales against a three-year ban from the sport imposed by FIFA for kissing Spain player Jenni Hermoso after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.

Ex-Spain soccer boss was found guilty of sexual assault on ThursdayThe Associated Press

· Posted: Feb 21, 2025 12:29 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Former president of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, is shown in this file photo. Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent, but acquitted of coercion on Thursday in Madrid. (Oscar Del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday dismissed an appeal by former Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales against a three-year ban from the sport imposed by FIFA for kissing Spain player Jenni Hermoso after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.

The decision by a panel at sport’s highest court came a day after Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting Hermoso, ordered to pay more than 10,000 euros in fines and was prohibited from getting within 200 meters of Hermoso or communicating with her for a year.

Rubiales was banned by FIFA in October 2023. That barred him from working in soccer until after the men’s 2026 World Cup.

CAS said its panel determined that Rubiales’ conduct at the Women’s World Cup final “constituted multiple and serious violations of the FIFA Disciplinary Code and saw no reason to consider the sanction to be disproportionate.

“The CAS Panel ruled that the sanction imposed is reasonable and proportional,” the court said.