The president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, resigns. The 46-year-old Spaniard said this in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan. “I can’t continue my work like this,” stated Rubiales.
Rubiales came under fire after he kissed Jennifer Hermoso, captain of the Spanish football team, on the mouth after the World Cup final win at the end of August. Hermoso filed a report with the Spanish Public Prosecution Service this week. After the report, the Public Prosecution Service decided to charge the association chairman with sexual assault.
After Spain won the World Cup final against England, it was about nothing other than Rubiales’ kiss to Hermoso. When the team players received their medals, he enthusiastically hugged and kissed each player. He told captain Jennifer Hermoso that straight up. The association chairman himself said that the kiss was given in a moment of exuberance.
A storm of criticism followed in Spain. Rubiales apologized half-heartedly, but he did not want to hear anything about resigning. “It was a spontaneous mutual kiss. I will fight to the end. This is not about justice, but about a social execution,” he said at the time.
Hermoso disputed that there was mutual consent: “I want to make it clear that at no time did I consent to the kiss he gave me,” she said. After a week of fuss and pressure from Spanish politics, Luis Rubiales was suspended by the world football association FIFA.
Rubiales’ mother stood proudly behind her son. In protest against what she saw as the witch hunt for her son, she went on a hunger strike. She demanded that her son be left alone and also wanted an apology from Hermoso, who allegedly lied. Three days after her hunger strike, she was admitted to hospital.
Watch the moment of the controversial kiss to Hermoso in the video below:
- Spanish Public Prosecution Service charges football president Rubiales with sexual assault
- Football star Hermoso is suing Rubiales for sexual assault after a much-discussed kiss
