Ex-Spain FA boss Rubiales launches NFTs amid sexual assault accusations

The former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales, who currently stands accused of sexual assault, launched an NFT collection to support ‘real equality.’

Former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales, who resigned from his post amid accusations of sexual assault, appears to launching his collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), featuring an image of him as a child.

In an X post on Jan. 16, Rubiales published a screen copy of a letter from a South Korean company called The Moon Labs, which said that the former Spanish Football Federation president “made a small mistake in women world cup.” In a bid to “honor Luis Rubiales for his contributions to Spanish and Global football,” the Korean startup minted an NFT collection, which is now available on OpenSea, a marketplace for digital collectibles.

“This can be a risky challenge for [us] as a company. But we are convenced, we believe we are doing the correct and for this reason, we started.”

The Moon Labs [original punctuation and grammar preserved]

According to OpenSea, the so-called Rubiales NFT collection consists of 170 items, with the creator earning 10% as royalties. As per the description, the NFT collection combines Luis Rubiales’ “achievements as a professional athlete and his experiences from his childhood, effectively portraying his story.”

Rubiales resigned from his post in September 2023, following a scandal involving a non-consensual kiss he gave to Spain player Jenni Hermoso during the Women’s World Cup final. In October 2023, FIFA banned Rubiales from all football activities for three years.