Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar (born 23 August 1977) is a former Spanish football official and professional player who played as a defender, appearing in 53 La Liga matches over three seasons.

[3] On 10 September 2023, Rubiales resigned from his post in the wake of a scandal involving Jennifer Hermoso at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final award ceremony.

[2] Rubiales spent the majority of his playing career in the Segunda División, representing Guadix, Mallorca B, Lleida, Xerez, Levante (gaining promotion to La Liga in 2004 and 2006) and Alicante CF.

[11] However, after his third league appearance, in which he was named man of the match, he announced his retirement at the age of 32, returning to Spain to take up a backroom role at Levante.

[17] Upon taking office he vowed to establish a fixed wage for the leaders of the regional federations (hitherto the exception rather than the norm), thereby endowing each of the entities with €100,000 for their professionalisation.

[18] In one of his first actions as president, Rubiales dismissed the Spanish national men's team head coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, having not been informed by the latter that he was negotiating to become the new manager of Real Madrid.

[19] On 8 September 2018, Rubiales gave an interview in which he criticised the Spanish League president Javier Tebas for signing a contract that would see matches being played in the United States.

The audio files find Rubiales negotiating to pay Piqué commissions related to playing the Supercopa de España in Saudi Arabia.

The lawsuit focuses on Wikipedia content about scandals including negotiations for the sale of the Supercopa de España to Saudi Arabia said to involve commissions and personal benefits, and derogatory WhatsApp postings about teams in the Spanish league.

[50][51] On 25 August 2023, the Spanish government filed a complaint in the Sports Administrative Court for "serious misconduct" with the aim of obtaining authorisation to suspend him from his duties.

[56][57] The Ayuntamiento of Motril brought the initiative down by declining to lease the municipally-owned venue Escribano Castilla Stadium on the basis of potential disturbances of public order.

[59] The same day, the Spanish Prosecution Ministry opened a preliminary investigation against Rubiales which, among other things, granted Hermoso the opportunity to file a legal complaint.

[61] In an interview with El Confidencial published on 30 August, his uncle and former colleague Juan Rubiales described Luis as someone obsessed with power, luxury, money and women, adding that the latter's behaviour was embarrassing and that he needed "a social re-education program".

[68] On 30 October 2023, Rubiales was banned by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee from engaging in any football-related activities at both national and international level for a period of three years.

[69] It was also reported that a Spanish judge was investigating Rubiales as a result of accusations made by Hermoso that he sexually assaulted her with the kiss and then pressured her to publicly support him afterward.

[74] Police searched Rubiales' home in Spain, as well as RFEF's headquarters, as part of a corruption investigation related to a deal, reportedly worth 40 million euros, about the relocation of Spanish Super Cup competition to Saudi Arabia.