Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales ‘is ordered to double his child support payments after being taken to court by his ex-wife’
Suspended Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales has reportedly been ordered to increase his child support payments after being sued by his ex-wife.
The 46-year-old father-of-three, who is now facing backlash after his unsolicited kiss from World Cup winning player Jenni Hermoso, is said to have been forced to pay double the amount he previously handed over due to a ‘tenfold’ increase in his income.
Spanish TV channel La Sexta reported that a court in the east coast city of Valencia had ordered Rubiales to increase his payments for each of his daughters from €400 to €800 a month.
His ex, who is described as a lawyer and is called Maria Manuela Delicado Vega in Spain, would asked for a review of Rubiales’ child support payments after the football chief’s annual net income rose from €97,000 in 2011 to a staggering €955,000 nine years later.
In 2020, when Rubiales had a nearly six-figure salary, she would have earned only $26,600 after taxes.
Luis Rubiales kisses Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso during the medal ceremony of the Women’s World Cup final
In this photo taken on August 20, 2023, Royal Spanish Football Association president Luis Rubiales can be seen carrying Spain’s Athenea del Castillo Beivid on his shoulder as she celebrates Australia’s and Women’s World Cup finals win New Zealand 2023 between Spain and England celebrating at Stadium Australia in Sydney
Rubiales (right) has been suspended for an initial 90 days by FIFA’s disciplinary committee for his behavior after the Women’s World Cup final, which included kissing Hermoso on the lips
The suspended FA chief, now a step closer to prosecution over the ‘unauthorized’ kiss he gave World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso after she lodged a formal complaint, spoke about his daughters Lucia, Ana and Elena in a Spanish TV show earlier this year -interview.
He told interviewer Risto Mejide, “They are very strong, stronger than me.”
He then described his eldest daughter as an Art History student and said, “She is a very sensitive person and has a strong compromise with herself and society.
“The middle one is the one that most resembles me, perhaps the most activist of the three. She is also someone of amazing intelligence.’
He also revealed in the interview how one of his daughters had once been “close to death” after a fall, in which medics had to “drill her brain” due to her head injury.
His three daughters, believed to be aged 20, 17 and around 15, attended a meeting of the Spanish FA last month where he repeatedly insisted he would not resign after the so-called ‘Kissgate’ scandal unfolded for his ex- hairdresser mother. Angeles Bejar went on a hunger strike in support of her son.
Rubiales seemed to imply in the interview that he had a good relationship with his ex-wife, saying, “I think we’ve always done the best for the girls.
“I don’t think the marriage was a failure, we were very happy, but when you go to another stage in your life, well, you move on.”
The reports on the increased child support payments, first published by the respected media outlet El Periodico de España before La Sexta outlined more details from leaked court documents, state that the decision was made by the Provincial Court of Valencia on June 19.
The decision predated his suspension as president of the Spanish Football Federation, which led to him being stripped of his huge salary and other benefits. It is not yet clear what effect this may have on the amount he is expected to have to pay in child support. payments.
Rubiales’ ex is known to live with at least one of her daughters in a modest house in a small town near Valencia.
She declined to comment – to both the Spanish and British media – last month after the ‘Kissgate’ scandal broke.
Rubiales has not yet made an official comment.
In a strange speech at an RFEF rally in late August, Rubiales refused to quit and denounced “false feminists”
The Spanish football federation has apologized for the ‘massive damage’ caused by the actions of its suspended president Luis Rubiales
Catalan regional president Pere Aragones (C) takes part in a protest in support of football player Jenni Hermoso in Barcelona on September 4, 2023
It emerged on Wednesday that Jenni Hermoso had paved the way for Rubiales’ prosecution by filing a formal complaint against him over his infamous World Cup kiss.
Prosecutors had given her 15 days to accuse Rubiales of sexually assaulting her by kissing her on the lips without her consent following Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory over England last month.
The move, which Rubiales says was sanctioned by FIFA and which he has described as a “cock”, sparked the Kissgate scandal which led to the father of three being suspended by FIFA for 90 days, a hunger strike in the church due to his retired mother and the dismissal of team manager Jorge Vilda.
Without it, prosecutors, who are now expected to ask a Spanish court to criminally investigate the football chief in the coming days, would not have been able to prosecute Rubiales.
A judge from Spain’s Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid would be tasked with conducting the investigation and deciding whether Rubiales should be charged before inviting prosecutors to charge the suspended Spanish FA president.
That’s because the kiss that has sparked turmoil in Spanish football took place in Australia and other courts in Spain lack the authority to act.
Prosecutors agreed late last month to invite Jenni Hermoso to file a formal complaint against Rubiales.
The footballer has said the kiss left her feeling vulnerable and a victim of aggression. She has described it as “an impulsive, sexist act, misguided and without my consent of any kind.”
Hermoso appeared to show a meme on her phone comparing being kissed by Rubiales to former Spain international Iker Casillas locking lips with reporter Sara Carbonero
Luis Rubiales’ mother, Angeles Bejar, has revealed that he has begged her to end her hunger strike
Rubiales, who has apologized for grabbing his crotch during the post-match festivities in front of Spain’s Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter, said in a lengthy statement last week: “The spontaneity and happiness of the historic moment led us out of a mutual and consensual act, a product of great enthusiasm.
“There was no aggression at any time, in fact, there was not even the slightest discomfort, but an overflowing joy on both of us.”
Rubiales’ mother, 72, broke her hunger strike last Wednesday at a church in her son’s hometown of Motril, near Granada, after being rushed to hospital 48 hours after her protest.
She said she launched it to get Jenni, who has now returned to the Mexican town of Pachuca where she plays her club soccer, to “tell the truth” about the kiss.
Before she got sick, she said from church, “I just want the truth to be told.
“She knows my son is very honest. If she tells the truth, everything will be all right.’
Referring to the World Cup kiss that led to the so-called ‘Kissgate’ scandal, she added: ‘It was an anecdote, as she said herself, and look how far it has gone.
“She must have a conscience and act accordingly.
“My son is very worried and has asked me not to continue, to stop, but I will stay here until I drop and my body can continue.”