Luis Rubiales

Rubiales spent the majority of his playing career in the Segunda División, representing Guadix, Mallorca B, Lleida, Xerez, Levante (gaining promotion to La Liga in 2004 and 2006) and Alicante CF. He was primarily deployed as a central defender and became a regular squad member at Levante during the 2000s. 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. Overall, he appeared in 53 La Liga matches over three seasons. On 4 August 2009, it was announced Rubiales had agreed a one-year deal at Scottish Premier League side Hamilton Academical. However, after his third league appearance, in which he was named man of the match, he announced his retirement at the age of 32, returning to Spain to take up a backroom role at Levante.

AFE President

In March 2010, Rubiales was elected president of the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE). He quit his post in November 2017 with the intention of running for office at the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

RFEF President

Rubiales was elected as the RFEF president in May 2018. Upon taking office he vowed to establish a fixed wage for the leaders of the regional federations (hitherto the exception rather than the norm), thereby endowing each of the entities with €100,000 for their professionalisation. Dissenting voices within the RFEF reportedly silenced thereafter. One of Rubiales' first actions as president was to dismiss Julen Lopetegui, head coach of the Spanish men's national team, immediately prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in June 2018. The dismissal came after Lopetegui failed to inform the RFEF that he was negotiating to become the new manager of Real Madrid, a position he assumed in August of that year. On 8 September 2018, Rubiales gave an interview in which he criticised the Spanish League president Javier Tebas 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. On 18 April 2022, the Spanish digital newspaper El Confidencial published some leaked documents and audio files that they called Supercopa Files, which included conversations that took place in 2019 between Rubiales and the footballer and…

Rubiales was born in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands to father Luis Manuel Rubiales López, a primary school teacher and mother Ángeles Béjar, a hairdresser. He was raised in Motril in the Province of Granada.

Rubiales married lawyer Manuela Delicado Vega, with whom he had three daughters. They later separated, but reportedly remained on good terms. In November 2025, Rubiales published a book, Killing Rubiales; at the launch event for the book, he was egged, by an assailant that Rubiales later claimed was his uncle.