The Spanish FA has completed a U-turn as it called on president Luis Rubiales to resign from his position. Meanwhile, hundreds attended a rally in Madrid in protest against Mr Rubiales.
Tuesday 29 August 2023 16:08, UK
That's all from our live coverage of this story for today.
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We brought you pictures earlier of a massive protest in the centre of Madrid last night, in which hundreds of people came together to call for Luis Rubiales to resign as head of the Spanish FA.
The protest, in part organised by Feminismos Madrid, aimed "to demand a sport free of sexist violence", and lasted into late last night.
Watch footage from that rally here...
By Rob Harris, sports correspondent
The action of Luis Rubiales after the FIFA disciplinary case was opened against him are at the centre of the investigation.
Sky News understands his conduct is being viewed within FIFA as bullying and intimidatory -- actions that prompted an immediate suspension from any role in football for 90 days on Saturday pending a verdict.
That was an attempt to stop him continuing to interfere with the case and appearing to publicly intimidate complainants.
Rather than resigning as expected on Friday, the Spanish football federation president vowed to fight on -- a day after FIFA opened the case into him amid concerns about his ongoing role from the government.
Then a federation statement was issued undermining Jenni Hermoso's account with images and body language analysis, calling her a liar and threatening legal action for speaking out against him.
Concerned players were even told they had an obligation to play for the national team rather than refusing to play in protest against Mr Rubiales as the World Cup winners had announced.
In an act of self-destruction, Mr Rubiales tried to drag the rest of Spanish football down with him by asking UEFA to suspend the country's federation by claiming there was prohibited government interference.
UEFA dismissed that request – allowing Spanish teams to remain in European competitions.
FIFA's disciplinary committee decided on Saturday he must be removed from any football role while the case is conducted.
Officials will be assessing the level of punishment for the non-consensual kiss at the World Cup final and then the attempt to subvert the investigation – backed by a significant level of public evidence.
The level of sanction is unclear with a lack of guidelines. Life bans from football have been used by FIFA in cases of widespread sexual misconduct by federation officials.
Mr Rubiales is still listed on UEFA’s website a vice president of the European governing body although he cannot carry out that role or attend meetings while suspended from any role in football. UEFA has shifted responsibility for Mr Rubiales’ conduct onto FIFA as the global body pursing the case.
The BBC has issued an apology after mistakenly airing footage of ex-Manchester City footballer Pablo Zabaleta during a piece for BBC News on RFEF president Luis Rubiales.
BBC reporter delivered the news that the RFEF had called a meeting to discuss the scandal engulfing its president on air yesterday - while images of Mr Rubiales and Mr Zabaleta were played on-screen.
Actor and comedian Omid Djalili noted the mistake, and called on the BBC to correct it.
The BBC said in a statement: "A production error meant we showed the wrong image in an earlier broadcast. This has now been rectified."
Sky News has also approached the BBC for comment.
Spain has made itself look like a "third-world country incapable of removing bad leaders" due to its handling of the Rubiales kissing row, a Spanish journalist has said.
Speaking on X (formerly Twitter), Gabriela Bustelo said the scandal had become such a huge story worldwide that "if women's football had hired an advertising agency to promote itself, it would not have achieved this global impact for years."
"Side effects: Spain portrays itself as a third world country incapable of getting rid of bad leaders," she added.
Spain's government has requested that Mr Rubiales be suspended as president of the RFEF, but is not able to directly act unless a crime has been committed.
It's easy to get lost in the endless bodies, regulators and federations involved in this complex and ever-changing story - so let's clear those up now.
FIFA
FIFA is the sport's chief governing body.
As we mentioned above, it charges continental and national bodies (or football associations, also known FAs) with governing the sport of football at that level, and therefore holds a significant degree of power over those bodies.
For example - it overrode the Spanish FA's decision not to suspend or fire Luis Rubiales by implementing its own ban - a "90-day interim suspension" - while it carries out its own investigation.
The women's World Cup is a FIFA competition - meaning Mr Rubiales' actions after the final fall under its jurisdiction.
It can effectively ban anyone it likes from the sport, so long as it follows the law and its own internal processes, or dish out large fines depending on the offender and the offence.
UEFA
UEFA is in charge of European football. It mainly governs itself but ultimately answers to FIFA on most matters.
It fits into this story through a development yesterday - where the Spanish FA (we'll get to them in a moment) formally requested that UEFA suspend it, over fears that the Spanish government was exercising too much influence over proceedings.
UEFA rejected the request out of hand - and said that member associations, like Spain, are expected to govern themselves, although its president, Aleksander Ceferin, has been in regular contact with the Spanish footballing body.
Mr Rubiales is a vice president of the European governing body, and is still listed on the website, but due to the FIFA suspension, he cannot carry out any duties in that role.
UEFA has effectively passed the investigation onto FIFA to handle.
RFEF or Spanish FA
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (also known as the Spanish FA or RFEF) is one of the national bodies we discussed above - charged by FIFA to oversee the running of football at all levels in Spain.
Mr Rubiales is the president of the RFEF, having been in post since November 2017.
The body had previously got behind its president, as it had with a few previous controversies (you can read about those here), accusing Jenni Hermoso of lying and even threatening legal action against her.
Following a meeting of the Commission of Presidents of Regional and Territorial Federations of the RFEF, which is effectively senior football leadership in the country, the RFEF changed its stance and called on Mr Rubiales to resign.
Spanish government
Following yesterday's development around the RFEF's request to suspend itself, the Spanish government was brought into the discussion.
The RFEF said the government was getting too involved in the investigation - which it inherently cannot (at this stage anyway).
That is because the Spanish FA is a private organisation - the government cannot sack its staff.
It must technically stay out of matters unless Mr Rubiales' actions are officially considered a crime by authorities - then the government can use its power to ban the president for up to 15 years from holding positions within sport in Spain.
While it can't outright suspend or sack Mr Rubiales, it has used one its arms to formally request the president be suspended.
TAD and CSD
The Spanish government submitted its request via the CSD (National Sports Council) to the TAD (Spanish Sports Tribunal).
If TAD decides to begin proceedings against Mr Rubiales, the CSD (which is state run) can suspend him for the duration of the investigation.
This may seem slightly confusing, as Mr Rubiales is already suspended by FIFA, as we outlined above, but we have to remember that these bodies are separate and that the CSD effectively represents the government's say in the argument - and it has become clear that it is desperate to be seen to come down hard on Mr Rubiales, given the massive public uproar.
The government could simply sweep in and suspend him immediately should his actions constitute a crime, without the need of going through CSD or TAD, but these bodies would likely still carry out investigations.
FIFA and CSD investigations would be totally separate and could eventually reach different conclusions, so could be huge for the president's future.
In short...
FIFA has launched an investigation, while Spain's government is trying desperately to suspend Mr Rubiales.
The RFEF has done little but ask its president to step down.
UEFA is effectively not involved past its president offering advice - and the fact that Mr Rubiales is still on its website is virtually immaterial, as his FIFA suspension means he cannot carry out any duties on behalf of the European governing body.
There are all manner of ways this could play out, as different bodies carry out comprehensive investigations, but that could take months and, for the moment at least, Mr Rubiales officially remains president of the Spanish FA.
We can bring you some important lines from Spain's acting sports minister Miquel Iceta, who has just answered questions from journalists in Madrid...
In that news conference, he outlined that the Spanish government has backed plans for radical change within the country's football governing body, the RFEF.
Senior members of Spain's FA have said they plan to carry out a "deep and imminent organic restructuring" of the body in the wake of the Luis Rubiales kissing controversy, which has dominated headlines since the World Cup final.
"It's over, no more discrimination for women," Mr Iceta said, reacting to yesterday's announcement.
"It's over and unfortunately it had to be due to an incident that shouldn't have happened," he added.
"We are witnessing a real social and sporting backlash."
Despite protests in Madrid and widespread calls for his resignation, Luis Rubiales still has staunch support in his hometown of Motril - where his mother is currently holed up inside a church and hunger striking.
A few dozen residents gathered outside the church last night, shouting and holding up signs in support of Mr Rubiales and his mother.
"Stop hunt against Rubiales, enough!" read one of the signs, with other residents stating that calls for Rubiales to step down are "excessive".
"We are talking about a little kiss, he didn't kill anyone," one said.
Another sign, pictured below, asks why Jenni Hermoso was lying - "Jenni why don't you tell the truth? Stop the hunt".
We've been hearing a lot around how this story is engulfing Spanish football - but is it?
Sports pages in the UK and around Europe prominently feature the story, but it doesn't seem to have quite the same focus in all of the Spanish sporting press.
Sports newspaper Marca does have the story plastered, with quotes from the RFEF calling on Mr Rubiales to resign immediately.
However, daily sports paper Mundo Deportivo is featuring a story on Athletic Club's latest victory. A story on the kissing scandal also makes the front page - but not as prominently.
Estadio Deportivo makes only a small reference to the Rubiales row on its front page, instead choosing to feature a piece about Clement Lenglet.
Finally, Superdeporte, like Estadio Deportivo and Mundo Deportivo, runs the story but not as its lead. That's reserved for Valencia boss Ruben Baraja.
Hundreds of people flocked to Plaza Callao in Madrid last night to protest against RFEF president Luis Rubiales.
The protest, in part organised by Feminismos Madrid, aimed "to demand a sport free of sexist violence", and lasted into late last night.
This came in the aftermath of the Spanish FA U-turning and calling on Mr Rubiales to resign.
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