MADRID (AP) — A Spanish government legal panel is opening a case against suspended soccer chief Luis Rubiales, the state news agency Efe said on Friday.
Rubiales has come in for a storm of criticism and calls for his resignation for kissing a player on the lips without consent after Spain won the recent Women’s World Cup final in Sydney.
FIFA has already suspended Rubiales for 90 days while it studies the case.
Spain is looking to remove him independently of the FIFA process. Rubiales is the president of the Spanish Football Federation and a vice president of UEFA.
Efe said the legal panel said Rubiales' behavior would be studied for two possible cases of serious misconduct.
The government hoped the panel would recommend very serious misconduct, a category that would allow the state’s sport body to ban him provisionally with a view to eventually declaring him unfit to hold the job. Rubiales can be disqualified for up to two years if found guilty.
Spain's culture and sports minister is expected to announce the decision later Friday.
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