Rubiales resigned to protect Spain men’s World Cup bid – not for the women’s game

Luis Rubiales firmly yelled “I’m not going to resign” in his speech at an extraordinary general assembly of Spain’s football federation (RFEF) last month, banging a fist on the podium to assert his position. But, 17 days later, he announced his resignation from his position as federation president, as well as vice-president of Uefa. The right decision has been made, but Rubiales is leaving the federation in authoritative fashion after announcing his decision to quit in an interview with Piers Morgan, a clip of which has been posted online prior to their full sit-down being aired on Tuesday.

The resignation statement released by Rubiales was nothing less than expected. There was no apology, no mention of Jenni Hermoso, the player who …