Spain’s women’s national team forward Jenni Hermoso has gotten support from Spain women’s soccer players’ unions in calling for action to be taken against Spanish FA President Luis Rubiales after he kissed her.
Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips during the World Cup final medal awarding ceremony following the team’s 1-0 victory over England, in full glare of the cameras.
Hermoso had earlier indicated on social media that she did not like the kiss, but the Spanish FA issued a statement describing the kiss as spontaneous and a sign of immense joy.
“This was a totally spontaneous and mutual gesture due to the immense joy that winning the World Cup gave us,” the statement read.
The union representing Spain’s women’s soccer players has vowed to fight back against what it has termed as “machismo and sexism.”
Spain’s Association of Professional Soccer Players (FUTPRO) said in a statement on Wednesday
“The union is working so that acts like the ones we have seen never go unpunished, are sanctioned and the pertinent measures are adopted to protect the football players from actions that we believe are unacceptable.”
On Monday, Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Rubiales issued an apology in regard to the matter.
However, calls for his resignation continue to pile on as the country’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez and other government officials join on the bandwagon.
The women’s football league in Spain demanded the dismissal of Rubiales and said that it had complained to the head of the National Sports Council (CSD) about his “very serious actions and behaviour.”
FUTPRO has announced that it will meet with Spain’s second deputy leader Yolanda Diaz to ensure the actions of Rubiales are “duly sanctioned”
The president of the Spanish government’s High Council of Sport, Victor Francos, has said he will take action against Rubiales if the federation fails to do so. The football federation is expected to address the incident during an extraordinary general assembly on Friday.
The controversy comes against a backdrop of a leaked video where head coach Jorge Vilda is captured grabbing the breast of a female staff member.
