FIFA suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales on Sunday over his refusal to resign in the face of backlash for an unwanted kiss he gave to Women’s World Cup Winner Jenni Hermoso after she and her team secured victory for Spain.
As Breitbart News reported, Rubiales sparked considerable backlash after he kissed Jenni Hermoso while celebrating the team’s victory. Though Rubiales initially apologized, he then backtracked his apology and claimed that they shared a consensual kiss, which Hermoso denied.
“My desire in that moment was exactly the same as if I’d have been kissing one of my daughters,” Rubiales said. “No more or less. Everybody understands that. It was a spontaneous kiss, mutual, euphoric, and consensual.”
“In the moment that Jenni arrived, she lifted me up off the ground. We almost fell over. We hugged. I said, ‘Forget about the penalty, you’ve been fantastic, we wouldn’t have won the World Cup without you,’” Rubiales continued. “She said: ‘You’re great.’ I said, ‘A kiss?’ and she said: ‘Yes.’”
Hermoso publicly denied that she approved of the kiss, asserting that she felt uncomfortable and violated.
Spain wants Rubiales kiss row to be ‘MeToo moment’ https://t.co/5annceLDAu
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 25, 2023
“I did not like this incident,” she wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist out of place act without any consent on my part.”
Comunicado Oficial. Agosto 25, 2023. pic.twitter.com/4OqhqwwJ8P
— Jenn1 Hermos0 (@Jennihermoso) August 25, 2023
People then called for Rubiales to resign, which he refused to do. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) also publicly expressed support for him, even going so far as to threaten legal action against Hermoso and others.
“The evidence is conclusive. The President has not lied,” the federation said
“We have to state that Ms. Jennifer Hermoso lies in every statement she makes against the president,” the RFEF said in a now-deleted statement.
According to CNN, FIFA has suspended him from future games, while several Spanish coaches have resigned en masse.
FIFA also banned Rubiales and the Spanish football federation from contacting Hermoso, to preserve her “fundamental rights.” Following the kiss – seen by millions of viewers around the world – Hermoso said she had been asked to “alleviate the pressure” on Rubiales.
After the news of the FIFA ruling, the RFEF named an interim president and said that Rubiales maintained his innocence.
“Rubiales has said he will defend himself before the pertinent agencies and fully confides in the work of FIFA, and reiterates that, in this way, he will have the opportunity to begin his defense so that the truth prevails and his full innocence is shown,” a statement from the federation said.
Alternatively, eleven members of the Spanish national women’s soccer program announced their resignation on Saturday. Spain men’s national team head coach Luis de la Fuente has also issued a statement condemning Rubiales.
“I hope that this unfortunate episode is concluded quickly for the good of Spanish football and that the competent bodies resolve and take the pertinent decisions as soon as possible,” de la Fuente wrote in his statement. “Finally, I state my disappointment because the events we are experiencing cloud the image of Spanish football, at home and abroad.”