Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar (born 23 August 1977) is a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

official and former professional player who played as a defender. He is the current president of the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

. Known for not being a very skilled player but a tenacious one – he only appeared in 53

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

matches over three seasons – he received the nickname ''Pundonor'' (

Courage Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...

Playing career

Rubiales was born in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, being raised in

Motril Motril () is a town and municipality on the Mediterranean coast in the Granada, Spain. It is the second largest town in the province, with a population of 60,368 as of 2016. The town is located near the Guadalfeo River and is from Granada. Hi ...

in the

Province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropical). ...

. During his Spanish career, spent mainly in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, he represented

Guadix CF Guadix Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Guadix, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It plays in Primera Andaluza, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal de Guadix'', which holds a capacity of 3,000 people. History Fo ...

RCD Mallorca B RCD Mallorca B, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. Founded in 1967, it is the reserve team of RCD Mallorca and currently plays in Segunda Federación – Group 3, holding home matches at '' Est ...

UE Lleida Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as ''Lérida Balompié-AEM'' on 30 October 1939, and became ''Unión Deportiva Lérida'' in 1947, after a merger with '' ...

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

(gaining promotion to

in 2004 and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

) and Alicante CF. He made his debut in the Spanish top flight on 29 August 2004, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 away draw against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

. On 4 August 2009, it was announced he had agreed a one-year deal at

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

. However, after only three league appearances – four official – he left the club and returned to his country.

Post-retirement

In March 2010, already retired, Rubiales was elected president of the

Association of Spanish Footballers The Spanish Footballers' Association ( es, Asociación de Futbolistas Españoles, AFE) is the association for professional footballers in Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (m ...

. He quit his post in November 2017 with the intention of running for office at the

, being elected its president in May 2018; in one of his first actions, he sacked

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

head coach

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid ...

immediately before the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, having not been informed by the latter that he was negotiating to become the new manager of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. On 8 September 2018, Rubiales gave an interview in which he criticised the Spanish League president

Javier Tebas Javier Tebas Medrano (; born 31 July 1962) is a Spanish lawyer and the president of Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, the association responsible for administering Spain's two professional football leagues. First elected in April 2013, he w ...

for signing a contract that would see matches being played in the United States. The former explained that the deal was "worthless" without the Spanish Federation's approval.

Honours

Levante *

: 2003–04

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubiales, Luis 1977 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Las Palmas Association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players RCD Mallorca B players RCD Mallorca players UE Lleida players Xerez CD footballers Levante UD footballers Alicante CF footballers Scottish Premier League players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Presidents of the Spanish Football Federation