There are a few things more infuriating than a misogynist who, when exposed, insists on the supposed correctness of their actions in spite of the facts.
One such irritation is Luis Rubiales, the president of Spain’s soccer federation, whose rise to infamy after a nonconsensual kiss against the country’s soccer forward Jennifer Hermoso has put a spotlight on casual aggression in sport.
Hermoso is a star player in Spain’s women’s soccer and has played a critical role in that country winning the women’s Soccer World Cup.
While many across the world wanted to celebrate the triumph of the Spaniards in the recently ended World Cup, it is Rubiales’s ridiculous affront and his insistence that he did nothing wrong that has many, within and outside Spain, livid.
When the Spanish women’s team won the World Cup, Rubiales pressed his lips on Hermoso’s cheeks and then on her lips during the medals ceremony also attended by Spain’s Queen Letizia.
Many reacted with shock and confusion, others termed it disgraceful, while some believed it surfaced a sickening, resurgent sexism in that country’s women’s soccer. In another video, Rubiales is heard saying the players will be rewarded with a trip to Ibiza, an archipelago of Spain with a popular nightlife, which will also be an opportunity to celebrate his “wedding” to Hermoso.
This fuelled confusion about whether there was a romantic relationship between the two. A defiant Rubiales accused his critics of “false feminism”, claiming Hermoso lifted him off his feet and moved him “close to her body” — a claim she quickly rebutted. “At no time did I consent to the kiss that he gave me.” This should close it. Without consent, it’s a vile, sexist, disgraceful attack.
The main reason for Rubiales to step down is not the damaged image of Spanish football — but a frontal attack on a vulnerable, young soccer player.
Even if she hugged him, why should he interpret it as an invitation for a kiss on the lips? In Spanish law, a nonconsensual kiss on the lips is considered “an attack against sexual freedom”. Indeed, Hermoso said the kiss made her feel vulnerable and a “victim of an attack”. If Rubiales understood the import of his actions, he would hang his head in shame. That the players have had to sign a memorandum, noting they will not play until the soccer body acts, is an indictment on all involved in Spanish soccer. It is not enough to simply call on him to resign, as the Royal Spanish Football Federation has done. It must suspend him.
The soccer body called on Rubiales to resign because of his repulsive “behaviour that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football”. In our view, the main reason for Rubiales to step down is not the damaged image of Spanish football — but a frontal attack on a vulnerable, young soccer player. To make this saga about the federation’s image is to miss the point.
The country’s prosecutors have also opened “pretrial investigative proceedings” into possible “sexual aggression” charges. Prosecutors noted they have received complaints from many but not Hermoso and have given her 15 days to do so.
It is troubling that, at a time when Hermoso is supposed to be celebrating with her teammates, she must now weigh up implications of formally laying a charge. She is now burdened with inescapable considerations about what would happen to her career should the complaint against Rubiales fail. Even if she succeeds in her complaint, what if some of his supporters who inevitably will blame her for his removal from soccer, victimise her afterward. It’s unnecessary weight placed on someone who just wanted to play soccer and help her country win the World Cup.
Yet for close to three decades, women in Spanish soccer have complained about issues Banyana Banyana are very familiar with: disrespect, substandard facilities and no financial support. In 2015, they, like Banyana Banyana did, staged a protest against the soccer establishment that resulted in their coach, Jorge Vilda, being dismissed. Vilda had also called them immature girls or “chavalitas”. This abuse forms the backdrop of the public attack on Hermoso. It’s a clear abuse of power by an authoritative figure who made the World Cup victory about himself as he displayed his machismo.
Rubiales must know the world is horrified and infuriated by his conduct, which is available for all to see. Hermoso has already clarified she did not consent. Rubiales may be entitled to his opinion, warped though it appears. But he is not entitled to his facts. He has disgraced himself and the soccer fraternity.
For Spanish soccer to redeem itself, it needs not depend on Rubiales being in touch with his conscience — it must move speedily to suspend him and send a strong message to other chauvinists that there’s no room for them in Spain and indeed the world.
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