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Spain’s football federation has asked Luis Rubiales to resign as president on Monday night after he forcibly kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent at the Women’s World Cup.
The regional presidents of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) held a second emergency meeting after Rubiales repeatedly refused to step down in recent days, sparking national and international outrage.
“After recent events and the unacceptable behavior that has seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, the presidents request that Luis Rubiales resign immediately as president of the RFEF,” the football federation said in a statement.
Hermoso previously said she “felt vulnerable and a victim of an assault, an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part.”
The statement from the football federation officials also urged an overhaul in the organization’s management — something many Spanish players have demanded in the wake of the incident.
“We will urge the relevant authorities to carry out a profound and imminent organizational restructuring in strategic positions of the federation in order to make way for a new stage in the management of Spanish football,” it read.
Kiss row sparks worldwide outrage
Women football players worldwide have voiced solidarity Hermoso over the past week.
The Spanish national women’s team signed a joint letter with Hermoso saying they would no longer represent their country unless the current leadership of the football federation is removed.
Further afield, women in football and their male counterparts have formed a chorus condemning Rubiales’ actions and his refusal to step down.
Former Germany goalkeeper and two-time Women’s World Cup winner Nadine Angerer said the incident has deeply affected players.
“It’s absolutely disgusting what happened,” Angerer told DW’s Gerhard Elfers on Monday.
“You just won a World Cup. You are happy, you worked such a long time for this moment. And at the biggest event for women worldwide, everybody speaks about one man.”
Angerer is now the goalkeeping coach for the Portland Thorns in the United States.
She said the young women in her team have been heartened by the worldwide solidarity from seasoned football players.
“They are shocked, of course,” she said.
“But at the same time, they’re very proud that the solidarity worldwide is with Jenni Hermoso.”
Numerous teams have also held banners in support of Hermoso, including Atletico Madrid where she got her professional start and Pachuca in Mexico, where she currently plays.
More respect needed in women’s football
Angerer said more needs to be done to make sure the men connected to women’s football demonstrate “awareness and just normal respect.”
This is a position echoed by FIFA, which has provisionally suspended Rubiales and ordered him and not to contact Hermoso or those around her.
The suspension will last for 90 days, pending the outcome of FIFA disciplinary proceedings that will determine wither Rubiales violated “the basic rules of decent conduct” and behaved “in a way that brings the sport into disrepute.”
Rubiales could also face consquences at home after Spanish prosecutors opened a sexual assault case on Monday.
The head of Spain’s sports regulatory body Victor Francos, who is also the country’s sports minister, will also bring Rubiales before a tribunal, which could potentially lead to him being suspended from his position as head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
“I think we can say it is the ‘MeToo’ of Spanish football,” Francos told journalists last week.
“There has to be a change,” he added. “The government wants to warn, to be very clear and say that there are things that can’t happen again.”
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
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