‘I will not resign, I will not resign, I will not resign,’ – Luis Rubiales After Hermoso-Kissing Scandal

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Spanish football president Luis Rubiales has declared he would not resign, following kissing Jenni Hermoso in a wild celebrative gesture after the Spanish senior female team beat England 1-0 at  the 2020 FIFA WWC.

In an apologetic post to the general audience, the president had said, ‘There is an action that I must regret, between a player and I that has caused a lot of noise. There is a magnificent relationship between both of us, just as with others, where I no doubt made a mistake. I have to recognize that in a moment of effusive joy, with no bad intentions and not in bad faith, what happened, happened, in a very spontaneous way. With no bad intentions from either party.’

While explaining what transpired between him and the female player, the football chief who has been incumbent since 2018 revealed:

Jenni was the one who lifted me up. I told her to ‘forget about the penalty’ and I said to her ‘a little peck?’ and she said ‘OK’.

It was a spontaneous kiss. Mutual, euphoric and consensual. That’s the key. A consensual ‘peck’ is enough to get me out of here?

There are many people who, although silent, are supporting me. More than those who are against me.

One of the things that still surprises the international community is that Hermoso had said the kiss was consensual, that it was nothing, and that the team had a great relationship with the president. But she recanted this later with with heavy allegations of manipulation and control.

I feel obliged to report that Mr Rubiales’ words explaining the unfortunate incident are are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture that he himself has generated. The kiss was never consensual. I was asked to make a joint statement to alleviate the pressure but all that was in my mind was to enjoy a historic milestone. Despite my decision, I have been under constant pressure to make a statement to justify Mr Rubiales’ actions.

The situation shocked me given the celebrations that were taking place at the moment and with the passage of time and after delving a little deeper into those initial feelings, I feel the need to report this incident because I believe that no person, in any work, sports, or social setting should be a victim of these types of non-consensual behaviours. I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part. Simply put, I was not respected.

Jenni Hermoso

From the look of things it seems she allowed the president to give her a peck as the Spanish usually do, but he aimed the peck at her lips, making it both a kiss and a peck. It seems the player was not expecting that from such a figure. Commenters have continued to say on social media that both might have been in a close relationship, while many others condemned the act totally.

Yolanda Diaz is the Spanish second deputy prime minister. She has called for Rubiales’ resignation.

What we have seen today at the federation assembly is unacceptable. The government must act and take urgent measures: impunity for macho actions is over. Rubiales cannot continue in office.

Now FIFA has suspended the president from participating in international football matters till they decide what to do.

The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, Jorge Ivan Palacio (Colombia), in use of the powers granted by article 51 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC), has decided today to provisionally suspend Mr. Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international level.

This suspension, which will be effective as of today, is for an initial period of 90 days, pending the disciplinary proceedings opened against Mr. Luis Rubiales on Thursday, August 24.

Rubiales might be pushed out of seat if it would cost Spain participation in the coming football competitions. Though he has refused to resign, he just might after considering what hangs in the balance.