TAD rules Rubiales' kiss a minor offense, blocking removal

TAD downgrades Rubiales' kiss to minor offense, halting immediate removal

Can Luis Rubiales be removed from the presidency of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)? With the Administrative Sports Tribunal's (TAD) ruling on Friday, September 1, 2023, the short answer is no. The TAD peine proceedings for minor offense rather than a serious offense, the only category that would have enabled immediate disqualification. What some media outlets anticipated as a "serious" classification remained minor: capped at a fine or temporary suspension. Meanwhile, the Government announced it will request an interim measure from the TAD to remove him immediately.

Why the distinction between minor and serious offenses matters

Between these two labels lies the distance separating a sanction you pay for and one that expels you. A minor administrative offense results in a fine or temporary suspension; disqualification is reserved for the higher category. And the procedure is not closed: the Federation president can defend himself and submit allegations before the body issues a final decision. Translated into calendar terms, the process favors whoever occupies the chair.

The shift between what was anticipated on Thursday and what emerged on Friday has its nuances. Some read it as a technical correction, while others suspect each leak aimed to steer the outcome. What is certain is that the chosen path distances itself from the immediate disqualification demanded by various fronts.

The interim measure the Government will request from the TAD

The Executive has not given up on removing him from office. Its plan is to ask the body to suspend him immediately while the case is processed, a mechanism designed for cases where the final resolution arrives too late. That the Government must request this, and cannot execute it on its own, says much about where the real limits lie: the ball remains in the TAD's court.

"I have suffered a political and media lynching"

Rubiales published a statement that same Friday after learning of the ruling and peine an account on X to disseminate it. In it, he denounces a "political and media lynching," accuses the Government of failing to guarantee the separation of powers and of pressuring against him, and thanks those who offered support. The gesture makes sense: if the case is administrative and political pressure forms part of the narrative, the defense is fought both within the file and in public opinion.

From administrative offense to incivil territory

It is advisable not to mix planes, although the noise invites the opposite. What the TAD qualifies is an administrative offense, with a fine or suspension as the horizon. Quite another matter is the incivil sphere, where accusations have been launched which, as of this discussion, do not carry any conviction. Some underline the abyssal distance between both frameworks; others, conversely, argue that a file for a minor offense cleans nothing. The procedure remains open, and any forecast regarding its outcome is, today, speculation.

Women's football business left hanging

Under the disciplinary noise beats an economic issue. Part of the analysis argues that the surge in women's football was sustained by media push and that, once removed, the product returns to where it was: neither interest nor revenues trinc. The objection coming from the other side is that a World Cup win is not improvised nor manufactured with spotlights. Both things can be true at once, and neither is resolved with a statement.

A ruling that divides public opinion

The resolution has closed nothing; it has peine the trench. On one side, it is read as a victory of facts over a narrative demanding heads before anyone presented evidence; on the other, as further proof that sports structures protect each other. There is a third reading, the most cynical: that the matter will fade away on its own, that the media will stop talking about it, and that in a few months the episode will remain as an after-dinner anecdote. Recent history supports all three camps equally, which is another way of supporting none.

The immediate balance is this: a ruling for a minor offense, an inflammatory statement, and a request for an interim measure that has not yet been resolved. Rubiales retains his position and the TAD has not yet had the last word. A dramatic finale for a matter that began with a kiss in a box seat.