(Madrid) The boss of Spanish soccer, Luis Rubiales, took everyone by surprise on Friday by announcing that he refused to resign, as all the press had been announcing since the day before, after the affair of the forced kiss on a player in Spain’s victory at the recent Women’s World Cup.
In a half-hour speech at the opening of an extraordinary general meeting of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) convened to address the controversy, Mr. Rubiales began by offering “[his] apologies”, notably to Queen Letizia, but described himself as the victim of an “attempted social assassination”.
Mr Rubiales justified himself by saying that the kiss on the mouth he inflicted on Sunday evening Jenni Hermoso – player of the Spanish national team who had just won the World Cup – had been “spontaneous, mutual […] and consented. »
“I’m not going to quit!” I will not quit! he launched in front of several dozen RFEF delegates.
Mr. Rubiales, who turned 46 this week, also attacked “false feminism” that “does not seek the truth”.
In particular, he attacked three women members of the government by name, including the Communist Minister of Labor and number three in the government, Yolanda Díaz, who had been one of the first to demand his resignation.
Joined by AFP, the soccer federation had not confirmed this information and had not commented.
At the head of the federation since 2018, Luis Rubiales has been at the heart of a media whirlwind since he was filmed on Sunday in Sydney, in full celebration of the victory of the women’s Roja over England in the World Cup final. , taking Jennifer Hermoso’s head with both hands before kissing her by surprise on the mouth.
In Spanish law, a kiss without consent is considered a crime of sexual assault.
The player, on her return to the locker room, said during a live broadcast on Instagram: “I didn’t like it, huh! “.
Faced with the extent of the first outraged reactions, the Spanish federation had transmitted to the press in the evening statements by Jenni Hermoso according to which it was “a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that victory brings. in the World Cup”.
