Sexual Assault in Women's Football: Lessons from the Luis Rubiales Case
Keywords:
Sexual Assault, FIFA, Court of Arbitration for SportAbstract
Many international women's football competitions contested between the women's football teams team that represents nations quickly entered the global sports scene, and prevention of sexual assault and violence against women’s football players was defined by women’s football regulation of FIFA. The women's football teams and their relevant participants are being governed to use their football authoritative functions and adopt a preventive approach to decision-making on supporting victims of sexual assault due to the changing dynamics of the international women's football organization. However, sexual harassment and assault might be able to occur in the international women's football competitions with a negative risk at both international and domestic levels. This paper discusses the application of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) in the Luis Rubiales case. This paper also examine how the CAS's rulings have affected the safety and protection for women in the global football on a large scale, while also examining the case's development at each level of process within the Spanish legal system and proceedings within the FIFA's judicial proceedings through the prism of the global women’s football governance of FIFA. The purposes of this paper also provides an assessment of the effectiveness of FIFA judicial proceedings. This paper then highlights the challenges of safeguarding women's rights in the FIFA football. The paper examines developments in women's protection in the FIFA’s football governance, including dispute challenges from inappropriate actions of male administrators and female players’ response, before drawing some conclusions.
References
Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. (2024). Ley Orgánica 10/1995 del Código Penal. https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1995-25444
Audiencia Nacional Juzgado Central de lo Penal. (2023). ROCEDIMIENTO ABREVIADO Nº 6/2024. DILIGENCIAS PREVIAS PROCEDIMIENTO ABREVIADO 62/2023. JUZGADO CENTRAL DE INSTRUCCION Nº 1. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://s1.elespanol.com/2025/02/20/actualidad/2025-02-20_SENTENCIA_RUBIALES.pdf
Cefai, S. (2024). He said, she said. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1), 254-260. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241270476
Coe, P., Moosavian, R., & Wragg, P. (2025). Addressing strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs): a critical interrogation of legislative, and judicial responses. Journal of Media Law, 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/17577632.2024.2443096
Court of Arbitration for Sport. (2024). CAS 2024/A/10384 Luis Rubiales v. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Award_10384__for_publ._.pdf
Crabill, E. (2024). Women’s football, sexism and media representation: Contextualising the Rubiales/Hermoso kiss. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1), 223-228. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241270521
Dueñas Mohedas, S., Martínez Pérez, N., & Cuenca, N. (2025). “La Paleta de las 15”/“The 15 Players' Tantrum”: Las redes sociales y el fútbol femenino a través del documental #SeAcabó: Diario de las campeonas/Social networks and women's football through the documentary #SeAcabó: Diario de las campeonas. Visual Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura Visual, 17(2), 217–227. https://doi.org/10.62161/revvisual.v17.5761
Fédération Internationale de Football Association. (2021). FIFA Statutes May 2021 edition. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
Fédération Internationale de Football Association. (2023). Decision of the FIFA Appeal Committee passed on 16 January 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://www.sennferrero.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rubiales.pdf
Fédération Internationale de Football Association. (2023). FIFA Disciplinary Code 2023 edition. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association.
Fowler, C., & Moro, S. (2024). Introduction: #(No)SeAcabó/it is (not) over: The Rubiales/Hermoso non-consensual kiss and the growth of a culture of concern. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1), 217-222. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241270387
García, B. (2024). Luis Rubiales as a symptom of Spanish sport poor governance standards. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2023.2299843
López-Carrión, A. E. & Sanahuja-Peris, G. (2024). El ‘Caso Rubiales’ y el movimiento #SeAcabó en la prensa de España y del Reino Unido: entre la política y el género. Historia y Comunicación Social, 29(2), 335-348. https://doi.org/10.5209/hics.96774
Martínez Guijarro, D., & Barrera Utrera, J. (2024). Medios de comunicación y percepción de la población en el caso Rubiales. Revista De Estudios Socioeducativos. ReSed, 1(12). Recuperado a partir de https://revistas.uca.es/index.php/ReSed/article/view/10898
Ministerio de Educación, Formación Profesional y Deportes - Consejo Superior de Deportes. (2023). CRONOLOGÍA CASO RUBIALES - CHRONOLOGY RUBIALES CASE. Retrieved June 22, 2025, from https://www.csd.gob.es/sites/default/files/media/files/2023-08/CRONOLOG%C3%8DA%20DEL%20CASO%20-%20CASE%20CHRONOLOGY.pdf
Paniello-Castillo, B., González-Rojo, E., González-Capella, T., Civit, N. R., Bernal-Triviño, A., Legido-Quigley, H., Gea-Sánchez, M., & Women in Global Health Spain group. (2023). "Enough is Enough": tackling sexism, sexual harassment, and power Assault in Spain's academia and healthcare sector. The Lancet regional health. Europe, 34, 100754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100754
Rodrigo-Jusue, I., Liston, K., Doidge, M., Black, J., Sinclair, G., Fletcher, T., & Lynn, T. (2025). #SeAcabó: How a mass-mediated “social drama” made visible and confronted (subjective and objective) violence in women’s football in Spain. Feminist Media Studies, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2025.2461123
Zecchi, B. (2024). ‘The problem is the system’: Luis Rubiales, Jenni Hermoso and the sound of sealed lips. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(1), 236-246. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241276183
