Luis Rubiales caused a lot of upset with how he acted after Spain won the Women’s World Cup. He also faced strong criticism for standing up for himself when people were angry at him.
Spanish prosecutors are looking into whether Luis Rubiales, who is the head of Spain’s soccer group, did something wrong by kissing a female player on the lips when their team won the World Cup. This happened on August 20 after the World Cup final in Sydney.
Mr. Rubiales was caught on video kissing Jennifer Hermoso, one of the star players. Even though he said sorry the next day, he later defended himself, saying that Jennifer had pulled him closer and he accused his critics of not being fair. He said he was being treated badly by them.
Jennifer Hermoso said that she didn’t agree to the kiss in any way.
More and more people got upset with Mr. Rubiales for what he did and how he talked about it. The group he leads, known as the Royal Spanish Football Federation, is under pressure to do something about it. They were going to talk about this issue on Monday.
This kiss is also showing a difference in ideas between older traditions where men show they are strong and newer ideas about treating everyone fairly. Some people are even calling it Spain’s moment like the #MeToo movement.
The prosecutors are now looking into Mr. Rubiales’s actions. They want to see if there’s enough proof to say he did something wrong. In Spain, it’s against the law to kiss someone without their agreement if it’s on the lips. This is considered as going against someone’s right to make choices about their own body.
People have complained about the kiss, but Jennifer Hermoso herself didn’t complain directly. They’ve given her a chance to complain if she wants to. She said that the kiss made her feel weak and like she was attacked.
Another complaint was about Mr. Rubiales touching himself in front of a 16-year-old princess, Sofia. This is seen as a bad and inappropriate action.
The Spanish women’s soccer team has been doing well lately, but what Mr. Rubiales did reminds everyone that there are still problems like sexism in the program.
Mr. Rubiales is also part of a soccer group in Europe and was working to bring the World Cup to Spain in 2030. The global soccer group, FIFA, had already stopped him from being part of soccer for 90 days. The whole women’s team and many other players said they wouldn’t play for Spain if the current managers stay in charge.
Even the government and politicians criticized Mr. Rubiales. The Prime Minister said what he did was not okay, and others called it embarrassing.
Players from different countries supported Jennifer Hermoso with a hashtag “it’s over” on social media after a message from Alexia Putellas, a Spanish team member.