The Spanish football federation threatens legal action against the 81 female footballers who no longer want to play for the Spanish national team as long as Luis Rubiales remains as president. After the final won, he had kissed the Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth without permission.
The threat is the most recent of a series of frantic efforts by the Spanish Football Federation to exonerate Rubiales and protect his position. In the meantime, it seems to be getting more and more difficult. If it is up to Miquel Iceta, the Spanish Minister of Culture and Sports, dthe “final hours” of Rubiales’ time has come for the union. He is concerned about Spain’s international image.
Hermoso said on Friday, despite claims from the Spanish Football Federation, among others, that the kiss would have been mutual the kiss was inappropriate and not by mutual consent. The event made her feel “vulnerable and the victim of aggression.” “I will not tolerate my word being doubted, let alone people making things up that I did not say,” referring to a statement from the Football Association earlier this week, in which she was portrayed as the one who initiated the kiss. Rubiales, who was initially going to resign, came back on Friday and opted for the attack. He presented himself at an inserted press moment as “a victim of a witch hunt and ‘fake feminism'”.
Attack on women’s dignity
On Friday it was announced that an increasing group of football players, following the example of the Spanish football selection, have signed a letter in which they collectively speak out against the sexual misconduct of the Spanish federation president. Under the “current leadership” they no longer want to play football for Spain. They view Rubiales’ behavior as an attack on the ‘dignity of women’.
The Spanish Football Federation refuted Friday in a statement Hermoso’s claim, stating that the kiss was consensual. The Spanish Football Federation will take the “necessary legal action” and added that “playing for the national team is an obligation for any member of the federation called upon to do so”. The statement was accompanied by a series of photos from the incident that should suggest that Hermoso was the instigator of the kiss.
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