Kiss could cost Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales his job

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz demanded the resignation of the president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, who became involved in a scandal caused by a kiss. During the awards ceremony for the Spanish women’s team that won the World Cup on Sunday, Mr. Rubiales kissed the Spanish team captain, Jennifer Hermoso, on the lips in an emotional outburst. Later, the 33-year-old, who is credited with having a close relationship with teammate Alexia Putellas, said she “didn’t like it”. Deputy Prime Minister Diaz saw Mr. Rubiales’ actions as harassment, adding that his apologies – which they were forced to follow – were meaningless. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also joined the cause, calling Rubiales’ actions “unacceptable.”

The President of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, is an emotional character. One might even say, somewhat reckless. Until now, the main act that inscribed him in the history of Spanish, and at the same time, it seems, Russian football, was his decision to fire the head coach of the Spanish national team Yulen Lopetegui (he signed a contract with Real Madrid without approval from RFEF) the day before the start of the championship world-2018 in Russia. The team urgently had to take Fernando Hierro, in which she was noted except perhaps for her outstanding ability to aimlessly roll the ball across the field. In the 1/8 final match, in which the Spaniards were opposed by the Russian team, this led to the departure of the team, which was considered one of the championship favorites.

The crisis of 2018, Luis Rubiales, despite the wave of criticism that fell upon him, survived. But now he has landed in a much more unpleasant story.

This is no longer about possible incompetence, but about the worst thing that a white heterosexual man is capable of – Luis Rubiales kissed a woman. And she didn’t like it either.

The horrific incident, which was covered by all the leading media in the world, occurred on Sunday in Sydney, Australia, shortly after the final of the Women’s World Cup. In it, the Spanish team beat the England team with a minimum score. At the awards ceremony, Luis Rubiales first put a medal around the neck of team captain Jennifer Hermoso, and then kissed her on the lips. The football player Hermoso did not show any negative emotions at that moment. But when the Western media dispersed the topic, she nevertheless stated on social networks that she did not like the actions of the RFEF president. Although later she said that it was only a manifestation of sympathy (Rubiales adhered to the same version), and urged not to dwell on what had happened.

Jennifer Hermoso is 33 years old. Nothing is known about her previous relationships with men. With the exception of her older brother, with whom she regularly posts photos on her pages, brother and sister have repeatedly been captured kissing. But the Spanish media attributed to her a close relationship with a partner in the Spanish national team, two-time winner of the Golden Ball, Alexia Putellas. However, none of the athletes gave a clear answer about how these reports correspond to reality.

Hermoso’s call “not to escalate” was not heard. The Minister of Culture and Sports of Spain, Mikel Iceta (the first Spanish politician to publicly declare his homosexuality back in 1999), immediately demanded an apology from the president of the RFEF. The pioneer of the Spanish LGBT policy eventually received an apology. But the matter did not end there. The Deputy Prime Minister of Spain, the Minister of Labor, Yolanda Diaz, has already intervened in the story. She stated that she insists on the resignation of Luis Rubiales, who “chased a woman and attacked her.” Fuel to the fire was added by the fact that already in Madrid during the championship parade, Luis Rubiales embraced Olga Carmona, the author of the winning goal of the Spaniards. It was probably a gesture of empathy for an athlete who had just lost her father, but, despite this, did not miss the most important moment in the history of the team.

Yolanda Diaz, like the aforementioned Mikel Iceta, is a consistent advocate for the interests of sexual minorities. She is married and has a daughter. However, one of her most active supporters in politics is someone named Carla Antonelli, the first transgender senator in the history of Spain. The name given to her at birth, the senator does not name, but most recently she stated that she sees the future Prime Minister of Spain in Yolanda Diaz. And it is possible that the question of the future of Luis Rubiales will soon acquire a purely political significance. After all, following Yolanda Diaz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his sharp condemnation of the actions of the RFEF President, who did not want to stay away from the hot topic. “It was an unacceptable gesture, Mr. Rubiales’ apologies are neither sufficient nor adequate. He must continue to take steps to clarify what we have all seen in the media,” Prime Minister Sanchez said at a press conference after an audience with King Felipe VI of Spain.

Alexander Petrov