Luis Rubiales was convicted of sexually assaulting Spanish World Cup player Jennifer Hermoso, whom he kissed on the mouth after winning the 2023 World Cup.
But Rubiales continues to claim that he is innocent and that there was consent to the kiss.
"As chairman, I should have behaved calmer, more formally. But I'm not apologizing to Jenni Hermoso because I asked her if I could kiss her and she said okay," Rubiales said on the television program El Chiringuito.
Rubiales has written the book “Matar a Rubiales” (“Killing Rubiales”) to mark the “public execution” he considers himself a victim of. He claims he is the victim of a “sudden far-left movement” that created a parallel reality to profit from the cause and to divert attention away from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The former football chairman, who was banned for three years from all football activity, is also involved in an investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to the Spanish Super Cup being moved to Saudi Arabia.
"I have never received commissions, on the contrary, I have prevented anything like that from happening in the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation)," says Rubiales.
