The Spanish Football Federation has imposed a provisional suspension on technical director Albert Luque and marketing director Rubén Rivera. Football International writes that the duo is suspected of forcing football star Jennifer Hermoso to lie about Luis Rubiales' intentions in the widely publicized 'World Cup kiss'.

Rubiales came under fire after he suddenly kissed Jennifer Hermoso, player of the Spanish football team, full on the mouth after winning the World Cup final in August. The incident caused an uproar both in Spain and abroad.

The former association president was permanently suspended by FIFA for three years in January and is not allowed to perform football-related activities during that time. The Spanish Public Prosecution Service also demanded a prison sentence of 2.5 years this Wednesday. Not only because of the kiss, but also because Rubiales pressured Hermoso to declare that the kiss was consensual.

Hermoso first said in a video that the kiss was indeed consensual. However, she later came back from this. She was allegedly pressured by Rivera and ex-Ajax player Luque to record that video.

In a statement, the Spanish football association RFEF wrote that it had decided to provisionally suspend the two directors. The roles of Rivera and Luque are currently under investigation. “They will no longer perform their duties until this legal matter is resolved,” it said.

The now 46-year-old Luque was under contract in the Netherlands for two seasons in the past. Ajax paid eight million euros in 2007 to acquire the Spanish striker from Newcastle United.

However, Luque never managed to live up to the high expectations in Amsterdam. He did not get further than sixteen official matches, in which he scored four times. Ajax rented Luque to Málaga after a season, after which he made the permanent switch to the Andalusians a year later.

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