Photo: DAVID GRAY/Getty Images
“What we saw was an unacceptable gesture,” said the acting president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, on Tuesday. The fact that the head of the country’s government is speaking out is a sign of the magnitude that the controversy surrounding the president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has reached, Luis Rubiales.
The last Sunday, Rubiales kissed the player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth during the celebration of the World Cup that the Spanish women’s team had just won in Sydney, Australia.
Millions of viewers watched the kiss live on television, which was interpreted by many as improper behavior on the part of the highest representative of Spanish football.
Rubiales first tried to downplay his action in a social media post in which he attacked his critics, but the controversy grew even more and finally released a video to apologize.
“Surely, I was wrong,” said the president of the RFEF, who claimed to have been carried away by the “effusiveness” of the moment and pointed out that “there was no bad faith on either side.”
Sánchez assured that these apologies “not enough” and “not even “adequate” either and urged him to take “more steps to clarify what we saw”, which is interpreted as a request that Rubiales present his resignation.
The government does not have the power to dismiss him since it does not control the Federation and only the members of this body could make such a decision.
In addition to the president, numerous personalities from politics and society in Spain have harshly criticized Rubiales’ behavior in recent days, going so far as to describe it as sexual violence, and have called for his resignation.
Jenni Hermoso, for her part, spoke that same night about the controversial kiss.
“Hey, but I didn’t like it”he commented, laughing, in a first informal reaction in the locker room during the title celebration.
Later, the RFEF released a statement in which the player said that it was “a totally spontaneous mutual gesture due to the immense joy of winning a World Cup”, but it has not been possible to verify if the statements were made by her.
Added to Rubiales’ controversial action was an inappropriate gesture that was caught on camera just after the moment the match ended and Spain was proclaimed world champion.
In full euphoria for the final result, the president of the Federation grabs his crotch with his handapparently on purpose, which was interpreted as an obscene gesture and completely out of character.
The gesture for which Luis Rubiales has also received numerous criticisms: he puts his hand to his crotch in full celebration with the Queen, the Infanta and the FIFA president.
His apology after kissing Jennifer Hermoso👉https://t.co/xZjbPXC4Jm pic.twitter.com/7uCQODXG2X
— THE OBJECTIVE (@TheObjective_es) August 21, 2023
The controversy surrounding Rubiales’ actions has garnered strong attention in the media and social networks around the world, and many criticize that it has partly stolen the limelight from the real news: the feat of the Spanish players who made history. by winning his first soccer World Cup.
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See original article on BBC