The persecution of the president of the Spanish Football Federation for kissing a football player has reached the planetary level

The story of the kiss, with which the president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, inflicted a “deadly” insult on the captain of the Spanish women’s team, Jennifer Hermoso, at the awards ceremony for the Spanish team that won the World Cup the Sunday before last, acquired a planetary scale and acquired all the signs of a grotesque. The feminists of the planet demand the resignation of Mr. Rubiales, considering his actions a manifestation of sexual violence. Rubiales himself refuses to resign. His mother, in protest at her son’s treatment, locked herself in the church and went on a hunger strike. The United Nations has already expressed its valuable opinion about what happened. It looks like the International Football Federation (FIFA) will have to resolve the crisis, which, according to the Daily Mail, will seek a 15-year suspension of Rubiales.

The development of the scandal provoked by a kiss, whose participants were RFEF President Luis Rubiales (according to him, he acted on emotions, regrets what happened, but he will not resign and will fight to the end) and the captain of the Spanish women’s team Jennifer Hermoso (she did not like it), is amazing. The hysteria raised in the Western media has already reached the UN level. Thus, the head of the UN Human Rights Office, Volker Türk, saw in the “kiss case” a turning point in the fight against sexual violence in sports. He believes that “women in sports continue to face sexual harassment and abuse” and, as he noted on the social network X (formerly Twitter), “everyone has a responsibility to report and challenge such abuse.”

“We join Jenny Hermoso of Spain and all those who are working to end violence and sexism in sport. Make it a turning point,” said Mr. Türk.

It seems that FIFA will also come into play in full force. Last Saturday, the federation made a decision to suspend Rubiales from “any activity related to football, at the national and international level” for 90 days and banned her from having contact with Jennifer Hermoso during this time. According to the British edition Daily Mail citing its sources, FIFA is not in the mood to let things go on the brakes, and is preparing to disqualify Rubiales for a long period of up to 15 years. It should be noted that even the former head of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, who was recognized by the FIFA control bodies as involved in corruption, received only eight years of disqualification in 2015 (later the period was reduced to six years).

In addition, Luis Rubiales risks facing criminal prosecution. The Spanish prosecutor’s office said that started checking for alleged sexual assault. Earlier, Spanish Minister of Culture and Sports Mikel Iceta, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz insisted on Rubiales’ departure, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Rubiales’ actions “an unacceptable gesture”, noting that Mr. Rubiales’ apologies “are not sufficient and adequate.” Under the sauce of the fight against Rubiales, the publication claims AS, the possibility of dismissal of the head coach of the women’s national team of Spain Jorge Vilda is also being discussed. Football players do not like him, last year the team actually announced a boycott to the mentor, but with the support of Rubiales, he was able to stay in office and lead the national team to the title.

The actions of the President of the RFEF are condemned not only by officials, but also by athletes. At the end of last week, the Spanish national team players refused to play for the national team while Rubiales is in charge of the RFEF. This happened after Jennifer Hermoso, who at the very beginning of the story said that the actions of Rubiales were only a manifestation of sympathy, and urged not to dwell on what happened, turned her position, stating that she condemned the actions of Rubiales and that she did not provoke him in any way.

On the side of Hermoso, among others, were such famous Spanish footballers as Andres Iniesta and Sergi Roberto. Both also expressed regret that the “kiss case” actually overshadowed the historical success of the Spanish women’s team.

But there are those who support Luis Rubiales. First of all, this is his mother and aunt. The mother of RFEF President Angeles Behar along with her sister back on Monday closed in the church of the city of Motril and went on a hunger strike. She insists that the kiss was consensual and that her son is “incapable of harming anyone.”

Alexander Petrov