As president of the Higher Sports Council, Víctor Francos (Cerdanyola del Vallès, 1979) is facing one of the biggest crises in the history of Spanish sports. The non-consensual kiss between Luis Rubiales, already former president of the Spanish Football Federation, and the soccer player Jenni Hermoso during the World Cup celebration has provoked a forceful reaction never seen before in this country from some soccer players who have stood up and demand regeneration complete version of the federative entity.
How do you understand the position of the soccer players regarding Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss to Jenni Hermoso and the consequences it has had on the Federation?
The footballers, at first, and as happened to many Spanish men and women, were in a moment of euphoria [tras el beso de Luis Rubiales a Jenni Hermoso en la celebración del Mundial]. When they began to analyze the fact, they said clearly that they neither shared it nor planned to tolerate it. That has had a quite logical evolution. First, asking for explanations. Then, asking for consequences. And one thing that must not be forgotten is that there is a complaint by the alleged victim before the National Court. Therefore, their behavior has been quite clear and has followed a fairly logical path. But, neither during the flight back from Australia did I have any conversation about it with any player, nor has any player subsequently contacted me to express concern, pain or anger. Because? Well, it’s very simple. Because the national teams depend on their respective federations. And it is with them that they deal. My phone is for whoever wants it. And it is my obligation to attend to them if they consider it.
Wouldn’t it be appropriate for the players to meet with the Government to try to resolve the problem?
I can meet with them and try to do everything in my power to try to solve the problem. But what I can’t do is intervene in the call of the national team, I can’t dismiss Federation officials, I can’t decide about the coaches… I can’t decide, even if I wanted to. They have done the right thing, which is to go to the person who can make the decisions they demand.
If a soccer player does not attend a national team call, does the Sports Law apply to her?
If an athlete does not attend the call of his or her corresponding team, he or she may incur a serious offense. Yeah.
And the Government, given the circumstances, what would it do?
The Government, considering the circumstances, hopes that it does not happen. I don’t like to take maximalist positions. I prefer to put myself in more moderate positions that allow us to correct the shot. I still hope that this doesn’t happen. But obviously there is a reality, a regulation that is not only applied in Spain, but is an international regulation. The players have to attend their calls.
Whenever soccer players make a claim, they are described as little girls, as capricious. What do you think when you hear it?
That there is a lot to go and that there is machismo. This is one of the demonstrations that there is a lot of machismo to fight against.
Do you think the Government is defending the players?
As far as all my strength has gone. You can’t imagine the amount of insults, pressure and bad comments I have received on social media. Because of doing what I have done I have also had problems. But the Government has used all instruments. From the TAD, to any conversation we may have had to please ask that the situation had to be resolved. One Sunday Luis Rubiales resigned. The following Tuesday I was already with the new president [Pedro Rocha] demanding deep and structural changes. I couldn’t do more. And the Government has not been able to do more. What’s happening? That we cannot dismiss a national coach. What’s happening? When I ask the TAD to describe Luis Rubiales’s attitude as very serious, which is an attitude that even the Prosecutor’s Office has said: ‘Hey, Mrs. Hermoso, do you want to file a complaint because we see cause?’ Well, the TAD has decided that no, that is not serious. I find it very curious that the TAD has been less severe with Luis Rubiales than Rubiales himself, who resigned.
Is it feasible to believe that the Spanish Federation can be regenerated?
Not only is it feasible, but we are going to make it regenerate in all its aspects. Not because everything that happens in the Federation is bad or everything that has been done has been bad, and not because all the last years have been a failure. I don’t like being an essentialist. Has everything gone wrong? No, everything hasn’t gone bad. Does everything have to be changed? No, everything does not have to be changed. There is the expression: ‘Everything is to be done and everything is possible’. But not everything is yet to be done nor is everything possible. It is true that there are some areas of Spanish football that we have to change. Furthermore, I think that Spanish football itself has seen it.
There remains the feeling that, as the Federation works, imagining that there could be profound changes seems complicated.
We now have a very important instrument. The least relevant thing is who does it, but rather that it is done. And that instrument is the electoral order that must regulate all federative elections during the Olympic year. All qualified federations have the obligation to hold their elections during the second half of 2024. All of them have the right to advance them by requesting permission and authorization from the CSD. And all of this is regulated with a ministerial order that we are preparing and where there are going to be profound changes with respect to the current electoral system. Changes that I cannot make now because we want to be very cautious. We want it to be a proposal agreed upon by the majority of the actors and that responds to what people ask us, which is that federative elections, and specifically in football, are more democratic, more transparent, more open.
What if the current structure of the Pedro Rocha Federation intended to exhaust the mandate until after the Games?
The Government is against. I have transmitted it publicly and privately to the Federation. What we want is for there to be a new assembly, which is not the assembly of applauders. Let there be a new one and meet to elect the new leadership of the Federation, no later than the first quarter of 2024. That is what the Government wants. But the Government can do as much as it can. I think it is very relevant for citizens to know what the Government’s will is. If the Federation decides to postpone the process, it will have to publicly explain the extension of the deadlines.
Have you contacted Jenni Hermoso recently?
No. I like to explain it clearly, because otherwise it seems like it was a dereliction of duties. When FIFA tells the Federation that none of them talk to Jenni, I understand that it is a decision to protect her. To not receive pressure. At no time did I want her to feel that the Government had a position on what she was going to do. Her decision about what she had felt, what she was going to defend, and what she was going to denounce, was hers. And only yours. Now, with great joy, I can say that I have not spoken with Jenni Hermoso, nor with any player. I have the peace of mind that the decisions they have been making have been independent of any pressure from the Government.
Amanda Gutiérrez, the president of the FUTPRO union, assured in an interview with EL PERIÓDICO that Spain had made a fool of itself worldwide for not knowing how to protect Jenni Hermoso.
I am sorry that she sees it that way, because I can assure you that I have done everything in my power to ensure that the image of Spain was that of a modern country that fought against certain behaviors. And it is true that we do not have all the instruments of intervention that we would like. The Sports Law, which is also very recent but had not encountered such a critical situation, has to respond to this lack of legislative capacity on the part of the Government. Apart from the electoral order that we will make, we will study in depth some modifications to that Law.
What would have happened if Rubiales had initially apologized after the kiss?
If he had sincerely apologized after the kiss in the first place, I think you wouldn’t have gone through what happened. Sincerely.
Would you have continued in your position?
Don’t know. That, as has been shown, only depended on him through a resignation.
Luis Rubiales has not only had this scandal, but he has been trailing a series of complaints. And nothing ever happened.
They are judicialized.
There were no public reproaches towards him either.
There have been many public reproaches towards him.
By the Government?
Well look, I’m going to tell you about one that is talked about very little. No government leader has gone to accompany the clubs to the Spanish Super Cup [de Arabia Saudí]. There must be a reason. I assure you that it was not because we were not invited or because of the Federation’s lack of will for us to be there. But no Secretary of State has been there. Nor the Secretary General of Culture and Sports. Nor Miquel Iceta as Minister of Culture and Sports. And we have said publicly that we do not like the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. That’s one of the examples I could tell you. And, obviously, there are some behaviors that we have said publicly that we did not like. Now, these behaviors have been brought to justice, and it will have to determine.
When did you first see Rubiales kiss Jenni Hermoso?
I saw it in Doha [durante la escala de regreso a Madrid desde Sídney].
Before or after he recorded his apology?
I don’t know if it was a minute before or a minute after. When the game was over we went to the hotel, had some dinner, went to the rooms to pack our bags and got on a bus to the airport. The moment you get on the plane you no longer have access to images, you do have access to WhatsApp texts. I perceived the seriousness of the event from the messages I received. But not because I had seen the video. I saw it when we landed in Doha.
And what feeling did it have?
When I saw it I had the feeling that it wasn’t just a kiss. Two people can share a sincere, friendly kiss in a moment of euphoria, and it can happen. But I saw a physical behavior that went beyond euphoria and friendship.
Did you ask Luis Rubiales for explanations?
On the plane, with Luis, I only spoke for a moment to tell him that I thought he had to rectify it as soon as possible and forcefully.
Was there coercion against Jenni Hermoso on the same plane?
I didn’t see them. I neither saw them, nor heard them, nor perceived them. That does not mean that they did not occur. I, among other things, was watching movies, sleeping. It was a 25 hour trip.
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Was Rubiales’ behavior in the World Cup final a consequence of a way of being?
I don’t dare say that this corresponds to Luis Rubiales’ way of being. Yes, I dare say it was indecorous.