Kiss on the lips without the athlete's approval. What will happen to the president of the Spanish federation?
2023-08-26 13:23:27
TiranaPost
Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales has refused to resign after kissing player Jennifer Hermoso without approval after Spain's Women's World Cup victory.
Contrary to Hermoso's statement, Rubiales called the kiss "spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual." He said he asked Hermoso if he could kiss him and she said "OK."
Following Rubiales' announcement Friday that he would not resign, the team's players announced they would refuse to play until he did.
In their response, the players condemned "behaviour that violates the dignity of women", saying they expected "strong responses from public authorities" to address the incident.
The player who was kissed, Jennifer Hermoso, said that at no time did she approve of the kiss that Rubiales gave her.
She said she had been put under "constant pressure to justify his actions" as she added that the incident was the latest in a long list of situations players had been reporting for years.
The government is limited in its ability to punish members of the football federation, but after Mr Rubiales made his comments on Friday, it said it was moving to suspend him. Victor Francos, president of the National Sports Council and Secretary of State for Sports, said, "We will act - we have activated all the mechanisms to take the appropriate measures."
