Luis Rubiales’ Uncle Calls RFEF President ‘A Cowardly Man’

Juan Rubiales, the uncle of Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales, spoke out against his nephew on Wednesday. It is the most recent statement condemning the RFEF president in the aftermath of his nonconsensual kissing of Jenni Hermoso.

In an interview with Spanish outlet El Confidencial, Juan Rubiales said that his nephew "is a man obsessed with power, obsessed with luxury, obsessed with money, even with women." He added that the entire Rubiales family stands with Hermoso.

"He is a person with the tendency for cowardice. He is a cowardly man. ... What happens is that, when he puts on the boss's cap, he feels that he is the best. In the Federation, in the first months of his presidency, they began to call him Kennedy," Juan Rubiales said, referencing John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States.

Luis Rubiales, 46, has been at the center of global controversy since kissing Hermoso without her consent during Spain's victory celebration after winning the Women's World Cup final on Aug. 20. On Saturday, FIFA temporarily suspended Luis Rubiales, after opening disciplinary proceedings on Thursday.

The uncle is the latest of Luis Rubiales' family members to publicly involve themselves in recent controversy surrounding the RFEF president.

Luis Rubiales' mother, Ángeles Béjar, announced that she is going on a hunger strike in a church in Motril, Spain, according to Spanish wire service EFE on Monday. Béjar said she was protesting the "inhumane and bloodthirsty hunt that they are doing with my son with something he does not deserve."

On Wednesday, Béjar was hospitalized, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, with EFE now reporting that she is out of the hospital.

Juan Rubiales added that he has respect for his sister-in-law's hunger strike and that she is suffering. He also referenced the players held off Spain's World Cup roster after signing an email demanding changes to training, tactics and privacy.

"The mothers of the 25 people that Rubiales kicked out of the Federation without committing any irregularity are also suffering. And the people that in his tenure he has crushed have also suffered a lot," Juan Rubiales told El Confidencial.