Previously: Spanish Football Federation Chief Refuses to Resign After Angry Mob Accuses Him of Rape-Kissing Women
This truly was the peck heard ’round the world.
There has never been a more talked about kiss in all of history that I’m aware of. And it was literally just a joke thing done in the midst of excited times.
Luis Rubiales has resigned as the head of Spain’s football federation almost a month after he grabbed and kissed the midfielder Jenni Hermoso during the celebrations of the country’s victory in the Women’s World Cup, sparking fury, incredulity and a national and international debate on sexism.
Rubiales had initially attempted to brush off the controversy over the unsolicited kiss after the team’s 1-0 victory over England in Sydney. He dismissed critics of his actions as “idiots and stupid people” as the incident provoked global outrage, led to his being provisionally suspended by Fifa, and prompted Hermoso to make a criminal complaint accusing him of sexual assault.
BREAKING: 🇪🇸Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales, who kissed Women’s World Cup winner on lips, has resigned.#LuisRubiales pic.twitter.com/y6Ic3UQbB7
— Policy Scoop (@policyscoop) September 10, 2023
On Sunday night Piers Morgan released a clip from a TalkTV interview due to be aired on Tuesday in which Rubiales told him that he would step down.
He said: “I cannot continue my work. My father, my daughters, I spoke with them. They know it is not a question about me, some friends very close to me, and they say to me: Luis, now you have to focus on your dignity and to continue your life. Probably you are going to damage people you love.”
Later Rubiales released a defiant statement, announcing that he had decided to step down as the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and as a Uefa vice-president.
“After the rapid suspension by Fifa, and the rest of the proceedings against me, it’s clear that I cannot return to my post,” he said. “Trying to hang on in hope of clinging on won’t result in anything positive for either the federation or Spanish football.”
Imagine all of your life’s work, your entire career, culminating in this.
It’s a travesty.
It’s difficult to even process how this is real.
The 46-year-old former player also suggested “the powers that be would get in the way of my return”, adding: “I don’t want Spanish football to be damaged because of a campaign as disproportionate as this one.” He said he had decided to quit because he believed his departure would help bring stability to Spain, Portugal and Morocco’s joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
Rubiales said he planned to clear his name. “I believe in the truth and I will do everything in my power to make sure it prevails.” He said that although his family and those close him had been made to suffer “the effects of an excessive persecution” and “many lies”, he felt the public knew the truth.
How can we be discussing “the truth”?
The thing is on video. No one disputes the video.
This man is being persecuted by a lunatic ideology that did not exist even a couple of years ago.
After the initial outcry his mother went on hunger strike in his name. Ángeles Béjar had locked herself in a church in her home town of Motril, southern Spain, for several days to protest against the treatment of her son.
Pressure on Rubiales had intensified on Wednesday after Hermoso filed a criminal complaint against him. The prosecutor’s office said that Hermoso’s testimony, given one day earlier, would be processed “as soon as possible”. Under a recently passed sexual consent law, Rubiales could face a fine or between one and four years in prison if found guilty of sexual assault, it added.
In a statement published five days after the incident, Hermoso said the incident had left her feeling “vulnerable and a victim of aggression”. She described the kiss as an “impulsive act, sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part”.
That is a nasty bitch.
📸 BREAKING: Jenni Hermoso has filed a complaint over an “unsolicited kiss” by Luis Rubiales following the Women’s World Cup final in the prosecutor’s office
Here is the video after that kiss in the Team bus 👇#JenniHermoso #Rubiales #Spain #WomensRights #womensfootball… pic.twitter.com/KPDkkSLJ9o
— Bleed Barcelona (@bleed_barcelona) September 6, 2023
She is going along with the hype. I’m sure she doesn’t mind the attention.
You can clearly see that she didn’t mind the attention of the kiss – though even if she did, what harm was done?
Police in Sydney say they are willing to work with Spanish authorities and assist with an investigation “where required” if they receive a report over Luis Rubiales grabbing and kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso during last month’s Women’s World Cup.
…
New South Wales police said on Monday they were ready to assist if a report was lodged.
“A report has not been referred to NSW police; however, if received, officers will liaise with international authorities and assist where required,” a police spokesperson said.
The Spanish prosecutor’s office said on Friday a complaint had been filed with the country’s high court and there could be grounds to charge the former football chief with sexual assault as well as coercion.
This is taking feminist extremism into a whole new realm – just at the same time as the Danny Masterson sentencing is doing the same thing.
We are all living in a gigantic vagina – and it’s a prison.