Spanish government can’t suspend Luis Rubiales after new ruling in World Cup kiss saga

The Spanish government suffered a setback in its case against Luis Rubiales, the embattled president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, on Friday.

The government cannot suspend Rubiales amid a case into his post-World Cup kiss with player Jenni Hermoso after a court rejected the argument that the charges against him were “very serious.”

“TAD [Spain’s Sports Administrative Tribunal] only considers the serious [offenses]. We believe that they are very serious,” Spain’s minister of culture and sports, Miquel Iceta, said. “The Superior Sports Council itself could have directly suspended Mr. Rubiales if they were very serious. But as TAD have not qualified it as such, it is up to the court itself. We will file a request for them to take that position.”