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Amidst a storm of controversy, Luis Rubiales, the head of Spain’s football federation, finds himself facing a preliminary investigation over the unsolicited kiss he planted on footballer Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final.

While Spain’s top criminal court prosecutors are delving into whether this act could potentially amount to an official case of sexual assault, the whole situation gets messier and messier.

In response to international outrage over footage of the moment, Fifa have provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days and instructed him and the federation to avoid contact with Hermoso and her close associates. The Spanish federation, supported by many members of the public, have also now asked Rubiales to step down from his position.

Hermoso issued a statement confirming Rubiales’ act as “sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part” and has been offered the opportunity to file a formal complaint to the court within 15 days.

Rubiales has asserted that the kiss was consensual, but Hermoso has hit back that this claim is “categorically false”. Someone clearly needs to explain to Rubiales what the definition of consent is.

In the midst of this turmoil, Rubiales’s mother, Ángeles Béjar, has taken an extreme step to protest against what she perceives as a “hunt” against her son.

The poor old lady has shut herself into a church and initiated a hunger strike, vowing to stay there indefinitely until a resolution is reached. She decried the treatment of her son as “unwarranted, inhumane, and bloodthirsty”. It must be awful to watch the whole eff-up unfold with your son at the centre.

Rubiales’s stance remains as defiant as his mum’s, with him condemning “false feminism” and expressing frustration over what he termed a “social assassination”. He expressed his intention to “defend himself legally” to prove his innocence. And of course, he has the right to.

But while the Spanish football prez runs his mouth in an attempt to quash the accusations, more allegations of inappropriate behaviour have come to light.

Tamara Ramos, the general director of the Futbolistas ON players’ union, has exposed that Rubiales made inappropriate comments to her in the past. According to Ramos, in a moment of extreme unprofessionalism, Rubiales wanted to know the “colour of her underwear”. That’s just gross and unnecessary.

As Rubiales remains stubborn in recognising the serious nature of the allegations, the controversy highlights the complex dynamics surrounding issues of consent, power, and accountability in the sports world, and sheds light on why many female footballers may feel apprehensive when it comes to reporting harassment.

[source:theguardian]