The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) is stepping up to defend its president Luis Rubiales, after his forced kiss on player Jenni Hermoso in the World Cup final, announcing legal action to defend its leader. “The RFEF and the president (Luis Rubiales) will prove every lie published by anyone on behalf of the player or, if so, by the player herself,” the body said in a statement. overnight from Friday to Saturday.
The federation said it would “initiate legal proceedings” to defend the version of its president who refused to resign on Friday, and who believes that this gesture was “consensual”. Spanish international Jenni Hermoso said on Friday night that she felt “vulnerable and assaulted” when she was kissed by Luis Rubiales in the World Cup final on Sunday, after claiming the kiss “wasn’t not consented”.
A few hours earlier, Hermoso had assured, in a first press release from her union Futpro, that she had “at no time consented to this kiss”, dismantling the defense of Luis Rubiales. In its press release, the federation quotes that of Futpro in which the player affirms: “I did not in any way seek to raise the president. The RFEF accompanies its release with four photos to show that, according to it, “the president’s feet are conspicuously lifted off the ground by the player’s action” preceding the kiss.
The federation also responded to the 23 players of the national team, who announced on Friday that they refused to play in the selection under the current management of the federation. In its press release, the RFEF recalls that “participation in the selection is an obligation for all people (members of the federation) if they are called by it”.
Against all odds and despite pressure, the boss of Spanish football refused to resign from his post on Friday before the extraordinary general meeting of the RFEF gathered near Madrid.
In office since 2018, the former defender fought back, claiming the kiss was “reciprocal” and “consensual” and that he had permission to do so, while castigating “false feminism”. This affair, already dubbed the “MeToo of Spanish football”, sparked an avalanche of criticism against Luis Rubiales in the sporting and political world.