In recent days, much of the world of Spanish and international football has condemned or distanced itself from Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish Football Federation who, during the celebrations for the victory of the World Cup, had kissed the player of the national team Jennifer Hermoso without consent. The case, which began as an internal matter in Spanish football, has in a few days become a major international scandal, which could have consequences for Spanish football as a whole.
In two days all the players of the women’s national team have said that as long as Rubiales is president they will not play; On Saturday evening, 11 members of the national team’s coaching staff (but not the coach) announced their resignations in protest, and the FIFA Disciplinary Committee suspended Rubiales for 90 days. There have also been numerous demonstrations of solidarity in favor of Hermoso, both in Spain and abroad.
The Spanish Football Federation, which until a few days ago seemed to be decisively supporting Rubiales, began to distance itself with some hesitation: on Saturday evening a press release was deleted from its site which attacked Hermoso with a certain aggression, and some of its members began to criticize the Rubiales shares. All Spanish political parties condemned Rubiales’ actions and behavior, except the right-wing extremist Vox. Despite this, at the moment the president of the Football Federation does not seem willing to resign.
The story of Rubiales, who a week ago had kissed Hermoso without consent during the celebrations for the World Cup, has become an international sporting and political case in recent days, especially after Rubiales, in a meeting of the Football Federation in which many expected that allegedly resigned, had actually vindicated his actions, argued that the kiss had been intentional and a “mutual” and “euphoric” act. Paradoxically, he claimed to be the victim of a persecution against him incited by the media and “false feminism”. The speech had been applauded for a long time by all those present at the assembly, that is, by the bulk of the Spanish football management.
But after that speech, delivered on Friday, things went downhill fast. Hermoso published a statement in which she denied that the kiss had been consensual and in which she accused the Football Federation of putting pressure on her.
– Read also: Jennifer Hermoso’s version
On Saturday, within a few hours, the announcement came first that all the other players of the world champion national team would stop playing if Rubiales remained in his position, then the announcement of the suspension for 90 days decided by FIFA and finally the resignation of 11 members of the national team’s coaching staff.
Also on Saturday, during the matches of some cups, there were various gestures of solidarity towards Hermoso: for example, the Cadiz players displayed a banner with the words “We are all Jenni” during a match against Algeria (i.e. Jennifer Hermoso ).
Today, the Cádiz CF footballers have come out with a banner of ‘We are all Jenni’ in support of Jennifer Hermoso against the macho Luis Rubiales. Huge gesture.pic.twitter.com/EDafW8rBLZ
— Fonsi Loaiza (@FonsiLoaiza) August 26, 2023
The Sevilla players all flashed a shirt with the hashtag #SeAcabó, which means ‘it’s over’ and is a reference both to the fact that the abuse of women must stop and that Rubiales must step down. Hermoso has received the support of many international teams, including the England national team (beaten by Spain in the final).
#SeAcabó pic.twitter.com/wZRQurxCQ5
— Sevilla Football Club (@SevillaFC) August 26, 2023
Other sportsmen, such as former basketball champion Pau Gasol, have also given their solidarity.
With you, @Jennihermosofor you and for all. pic.twitter.com/6y0ylGGtQz
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) August 25, 2023
The two coaches of the men’s and women’s national teams, after some hesitation, distanced themselves from Rubiales on Saturday. Luis de la Fuente, the coach of the men’s national team, condemned “unreservedly the wrong and inappropriate behavior of the president”. The same was done by the coach of the women’s national team, Jorge Vilda, who said that Rubiales’ actions were “nonsense” and that they ruined the victory at the World Cup. Both De la Fuente and Vilda applauded repeatedly on Friday the aggressive speech in which Rubiales claimed that he had done nothing wrong and that he was the victim of persecution, and both were considered until a few days ago very close to the president of the Football Federation. The fact that they both distanced themselves from him means, ha written il Countrythat «Rubiales is starting to run out of allies».
Even the Football Federation, which until now had been very united behind Rubiales, may have begun to distance itself: on Saturday evening it deleted from its website a particularly violent statement in which it accused Hermoso of “lying at every word” and of “manipulating reality”.