Spanish Football President Faces Backlash for Kissing Player After Win

Spain was victorious over England with a 1–0 score in the FIFA Women's World Cup finals on Sunday night. But the win has been overshadowed by a bizarre moment in which Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales kissed team captain Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the medal ceremony following the match.

As a result, many fans are lashing out at Rubiales over the viral moment, with some even calling for his resignation.

In video taken during the event, Rubiales embraces Hermoso before grabbing her head in his hands and kissing her firmly on the mouth—not to be confused with the above image, in which he likewise kissed her teammate Aitana Bonmatí on the cheek. As this transpired, Spain's Queen Letizia was seen standing to the left, congratulating another player.

Per the New York Times, Hermoso could be heard in another video exclaiming, "Hey, but I didn’t like that!" However, she later walked back her remark, calling the moment a "gesture of affection and gratitude."

"It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings," Hermoso said in a statement from the Spanish federation. "The president and I have a great relationship, his behaviour with all of us has been outstanding and it was a natural gesture of affection and gratitude."

In initial radio remarks about the incident, Rubiales indignantly defended the moment as "a kiss between two friends celebrating something," chalking up those who were upset as "idiots and stupid people."

After facing continued outrage however, he later apologized.

"I surely made a mistake, I have to recognize that," Rubiales admitted. "In a moment of elation, without any intention of bad faith, well, what happened happened—I think in a very spontaneous way."

"Here, we didn’t understand it because we saw something natural, normal and in no way, I repeat, with bad faith," he added. "But outside of the bubble, it looks like it has turned into a storm and so, if there are people who have felt offended, I have to say I’m sorry."

Be that as it may, some called the kiss a painful reminder that sexism is still rampant in women's soccer.

Nadia Tronchoni, editor of the Spanish newspaper El País said in an opinion piece that the kiss was an "intrusion," an "aggression," and "an invasion of one’s personal space, without consent."

"The women, the girls of this country celebrated the fact that our stubbornness has finally defeated machismo," Tronchoni wrote. "Rubiales’s kiss to Hermoso reminds us that the road ahead is a long one."

Retired Australian soccer legend Craig Foster likewise called the moment "horrific."

"Women in sport are daily subject to an extreme power differential, objectification, harassment, sexual abuse and an absence of agency and power," Foster tweeted on Sunday. "He should be stood down immediately by ⁦[FIFA] and the Spanish FA."

It remains to be seen whether the organization will take action against Rubiales. In yet another video, he could he heard telling the team that they would be rewarded with a trip to Ibiza for the win, making a glib reference to the kiss by adding that it would give him the opportunity to celebrate his "wedding" to Hermoso.



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