Spanish FA to take action against Jennifer Hermoso over comment about Luis Rubiales
The Spanish Football Federation has said that it would be taking legal action against Jennifer Hermoso and others over comments made about the kiss she got from the FA’s President, Luis Rubiales.
The President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, was filmed forcibly kissing Hermoso on the lips after she collected her winners’ medal on Sunday, August 20, in Sydney, Australia, an act which the 33-year-old World Cup winner later said she “didn’t like” and “didn’t expect.”
The 46-year-old President of the Spanish FA has so far refused to resign from his position following a week of fierce criticism. Speaking at the federation’s Extraordinary General Assembly on Friday, he said he will “fight to the end.”
In a defiant speech, he described the kiss as “mutual” and spoke of “unjust” campaigns and “fake feminism,” and emphatically said, “I will not resign” several times during the almost 30-minute address, which has elicited further criticism.
Reacting to the comment on Friday, August 25, Jennifer Hermoso has said that she did not consent to an “unwanted” kiss from Luis Rubiales at the medals ceremony. The star player further revealed that she has refused to give in to “continuous pressure to make a statement” that could justify Rubiales’ actions.
She said;
“In reference to what has happened today [Rubiales’ speech] and while I don’t want to interfere with the multiple ongoing legal procedures, I feel obligated to say that the words of Mr Luis Rubiales explaining the unfortunate event are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture he has created.
“I want to make clear that not in any moment did the conversation occur that Mr Luis Rubiales references, and much less that his kiss was consensual. In the same way I want to reiterate how I did in that moment that what happened was not enjoyable.
“The situation left me in shock because of the context of the celebration, and with the time passed, and those initial feelings being able to sink, I feel the need to denounce this as I feel that no one, in no work space, sporting or social, should be a victim to this time of unconsensual behaviour. I felt vulnerable and a victim of aggression, an impulsive act, sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part. In short, I wasn’t respected.
“I was asked to released a joint statement to relieve the pressure off the president, but in those moments, in my head I only had being able to celebrate the historic achievement I accomplished with my teammates. That’s why, in that moment I communicated with the RFEF … and the same with media and people I trust, that I would not be releasing an individual statement nor a joint statement about the matter, as I understood that, by doing it, I would take away the spotlight from a very special moment for my teammates and I.
“Despite my decision I have to state that I have been under constant pressure to come out with some sort of statement that would justify the acts of Mr Luis Rubiales. Not only that, but also, via different ways and different people, the RFEF has pressured my close circle (family, friends, teammates, etc) so I would give a statement that had little or nothing to do with how I felt.
“It’s not my place to evaluate communication practices or integrity, but I am sure that as world champions we do not deserve a culture so manipulative, hostile and controlling. These types of incidents are added to a long list of situations that us, the players, have been [enduring] for the last few years, for what has been done, for what I have experienced, this is only a drop in a full glass and only what the whole world has been able to see. Acts like these have been part of daily life in our national team for years.
“Overall, I want to restate my position that I have taken from the start, considering that I don’t have to support the person that has committed this action against my will, who didn’t respect me, in a historic moment for me and for women’s sport of this country.
“In no situation, can it be my responsibility to assume the consequences to have to transmit something that I don’t believe, and for that reason I have ignored the pressure [I was put under].
“I want to close by making it very clear that while it is me expressing this, these words are that of all the players in Spain and the world that have given me strength to come out with this statement.”
Jennifer Hermoso, along with her teammates on Spain’s 2023 World Cup winning squad and other professional women football players had also said on Friday, that they will not play again for the country until Luis Rubiales has been removed from his position.
Eighty-one people signed a statement posted to the players union site FUTPRO and shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The statement read;
“No woman should see herself needing to answer questions based on the blunt images that the entire world has seen and, of course, no one should be involved in attitudes without consent.
“It fills us with sadness that an act, so unacceptable as this, is managing to tarnish the biggest sporting achievement in Spanish women’s football history.
“After everything that’s occurred during the medal ceremony at the Women’s World Cup, we want to declare that all of the players who have signed this statement will not put themselves forward for National team selection as long as the actual leadership remains in place.”
Reacting to the statements, the Spanish FA promised to show that Hermoso and other players are lying about the kiss. The federation also said that, if selected, players have “an obligation” to play for the national team.
The FA also promised to take a legal route on the case. The statement read;
“The RFEF and Mr President will demonstrate each of the lies that are spread either by someone on behalf of the player or, if applicable, by the player herself.
“The RFEF and the President, given the seriousness of the content of the press release from the Futpro union, will initiate the corresponding legal actions.”
