Last Sunday, Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history.
Olga Carmona’s first-half goal saw them to a 1-0 victory over England in the final in the Australian city of Sydney but celebrations of that historic achievement have been overshadowed by events away from the pitch.
Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish football association (RFEF) kissed their forward Jenni Hermoso during the presentation ceremony on the pitch afterwards, and a week of statements, resignations and more statements has followed.
Hermoso denied she consented to the kiss. The 33-year-old, alongside 80 fellow Spanish players, has refused to play for the national team until changes to the leadership are made.
Rubiales refused to resign but was then suspended by FIFA, world football’s governing body, while the RFEF has continued to staunchly stand by its president and even threatened Hermoso with legal action.
Here’s a timeline of events from a complex seven days in Spanish football.
Sunday: Spain win World Cup and Rubiales kisses Hermoso
Spain win the 2023 Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory over England at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The triumph comes amid the backdrop of a dispute between the RFEF and members of the team. Last September, 15 Spain players wrote to the RFEF to make themselves ineligible for national-team selection until structural changes were made. Only three of the 15 — Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey — returned to the squad to play in the World Cup.
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Rubiales grabs his crotch in wild celebration shortly after the final whistle, despite being in a VIP area of the stand right alongside the Queen of Spain and her 16-year-old daughter, and then during the presentation ceremony down on the pitch, embraces each Spain player as they collect their medals. After an embrace with Hermoso, Rubiales, with his arms around her shoulders, lifts his feet into the air. What isn’t clear is if Hermoso initiates picking him up or if Rubiales jumps into her arms. TV footage cuts away at that moment.
Rubiales then kisses the forward on the lips.
“Yeah (it happened), but I didn’t like it,” Hermoso says while watching a video of the incident with her team-mates in an Instagram live broadcast in the dressing room.
Rubiales publicly dismisses criticism of his actions.
“We do not pay any attention to idiots and stupid people,” he says on Spanish radio station Cope. “It was a peck between two friends celebrating something. (The criticism) is really all just nonsense, (from) dickheads and dumbasses. These are just losers who did not know how to see the positive side.
“Viva Espana. We have the best players in the world and that is what we should be talking about. With one friend I celebrate with a kiss, with another giving her a hug, and whatever else.”
Monday: RFEF releases Hermoso statement
The incident is widely condemned on social media, with Spain’s equalities minister Irene Montero and sports minister Miquel Iceta both voicing their criticism.
The RFEF releases a statement to Spanish news agency EFE, which quotes Hermoso as saying: “It was a mutual, totally spontaneous gesture because of the huge joy of winning a World Cup. The ‘presi’ (Rubiales) and I have a great relationship… It was a natural gesture of affection and gratitude.”
However, a source familiar with the situation, speaking anonymously to protect their position, tells The Athletic that Hermoso did not provide any such comment.
Monday: Rubiales releases video message
Rubiales puts out a video message apologising to any “people who felt hurt” by his actions and claiming it was “normal, natural and not at all with any bad faith”.
“It seems as if it has caused a stir,” Rubiales says. “Of course, if there are people who felt hurt by this, I need to apologise — there’s no alternative. And also learn from this and understand that a president of such an important institution as the federation has to — above all in ceremonies and in these types of questions — be more careful.”
Wednesday: Calls for Rubiales to be sanctioned
The global footballers’ union FIFPRO releases a statement calling for immediate action to be taken, adding “it is deeply lamentable that such a special moment … should be stained by the inappropriate conduct of an individual in a role carrying so much responsibility”.
The Spanish women’s players’ union FUTPRO says it expresses its “firm and categorical condemnation in the face of behaviours that threaten the dignity of women”.
“FUTPRO rejects any attitude or behaviour that damages footballers’ rights and from the union we are working so that acts like the ones we have seen never go unpunished, are sanctioned and the appropriate measures are taken that protect footballers from acts that we believe are unacceptable,” its statement reads.
Hermoso, speaking through FUTPRO and her representatives, says: “My union FUTPRO, in coordination with my agency TMJ, are taking care of defending my interests and being the intermediaries on this subject.”
The RFEF organises an emergency meeting for Friday.
Thursday: FIFA opens disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales
FIFA announces it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales.
The body’s disciplinary code notes that measures may be taken against anyone “violating the basic rules of decent conduct” or “insulting a natural or legal person in any way, especially by using offensive gestures, signs or language”.
Friday, part one: Rubiales refuses to resign at RFEF assembly
Rubiales chairs an extraordinary RFEF assembly and refuses to step down. He claims “a social assassination” was being attempted against him and said he had “suffered persecution” in his five years as president.
“I’m not going to resign, I’m not going to resign, I’m NOT going to resign, I’m NOT going to resign, I’m not going to resign,” Rubiales declares.
“We’re in a country where the law rules, where there has to be a motive to take you out of some place. And I say, what is it I’ve done? A consensual peck is enough to get me out of here?”
Friday, part two: World Cup winners refuse future call-ups
A letter signed by 81 Spain players, including the entire 2023 World Cup-winning squad, is released by FUTPRO, stating they will reject call-ups to the national team until the leadership of the RFEF changes and describing the actions of Rubiales as “violating the dignity of women”.
The letter includes a statement from Hermoso outlining she had not consented to the kiss or lifted Rubiales in the air.
The statement reads: “In view of the statements made by the RFEF president, Jennifer Hermoso wants to categorically deny that she consented to the kiss that Luis Rubiales gave her after the World Cup final: ‘I want to clarify that, as seen in the images, at no time did I consent to the kiss that he gave me and of course, in no case did I seek to lift up the president [Rubiales said she did]. I will not tolerate that my word is doubted, much less words that I have not said invented.’
“It fills us with sadness that such an unacceptable event is managing to tarnish the greatest sporting success of Spanish women’s football. After everything that happened during the Women’s World Cup medal ceremony, we want to state that all the players who sign this letter will not return to a call-up from the national team if the current leadership continues.”
Friday, part three: Hermoso releases statement
Shortly after the collective Spain statement, Hermoso releases one independently. In it, she reiterates she had not consented to the kiss, calls Rubiales’ version of events “false” and claims the RFEF put pressure on her to make a statement justifying its president’s actions.
“While it is true that I do not want to interfere with the multiple ongoing legal processes, I feel obliged to report that Mr. Luis Rubiales’ words explaining the unfortunate incident are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture that he himself has generated,” Hermoso says.
“I want to make it clear that at no time did the conversation to which Mr. Luis Rubiales refers to in his address take place, and, above all, was his kiss ever consensual. I want to reiterate as I did before that I did not like this incident.”
Friday, part four: RFEF threatens Hermoso with legal action
In response to the FUTPRO statement, the RFEF threatens Hermoso with legal action following her comments about Rubiales and her claim that she did not seek to lift him up before he kissed her.
Its latest comment comes with four photographs of Hermoso and Rubiales embracing which it claims shows “that the facts exposed by Mr. President are absolutely true and that he is not lying”, plus descriptions and analysis of the body language of Rubiales and Hermoso to accompany the photos.
The RFEF statement reads: “The evidence is conclusive. Mr. President has not lied.
“The RFEF and Mr. President will demonstrate each of the lies that are spread either by someone on behalf of the player or, if applicable, by the player herself.
“The RFEF and the president, given the seriousness of the content of the press release from the FUTPRO union, will initiate the corresponding legal actions.”
Saturday, part one: Rubiales provisionally suspended by FIFA
The following day, Rubiales is provisionally suspended from football-related activities for 90 days by FIFA.
Rubiales and the RFEF are also ordered to refrain from contacting Hermoso by the chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee, Jorge Ivan Palacio.
Saturday, part two: RFEF responds to Rubiales’ suspension
The RFEF sends out two further statements following Rubiales’ suspension.
The first is just three paragraphs, shared on social media, acknowledging the suspension and confirming Rubiales will defend himself. The second is a 399-word, now-deleted, response, posted on the RFEF’s official website but not shared on its social media channels, doubling down on its accusation that Hermoso has lied, accusing the player of “serious contradictions” in her account of events and claims she had been “abducted” by FUTPRO.
That second statement reads: “The serious contradictions in the initial account of what happened — which are revealed in the integrity report — and the serious accusations made by Ms. Hermoso since she was abducted by the FUTPRO union lead us to ask ourselves whose interests (are served by) the surprising change in the initial version and qualification of the facts.
“The facts are what they are; and, no matter how many statements are made to distort reality, it is impossible to change what happened. The peak was spoiled. The consent is given at the moment with the conditions of the moment. Later you can think that you have made a mistake, but you cannot change reality.”
The organisation has also launched an internal investigation after its sexual violence protocol was activated.
Saturday, part three: Spain Women’s coaches resign
Eleven members of the Spain Women’s national-team coaching staff announce their resignations in a collective statement, citing the “unacceptable attitudes and actions of the RFEF chief.”
Women’s team head coach Jorge Vilda remains in his position.
Assistant managers Montse Tome, Javier Lerga and Eugenio Gonzalo Martin, physio Blanca Romero Moraleda, goalkeeping coach Carlos Sanchez and six youth-team coaches all step down from their roles.
The coaching staff had been present at Friday’s RFEF assembly during which Rubiales refused to resign, and stated they were unhappy that their presence made it appear their views were aligned with his.
“After the meeting of the RFEF of August 25, in which the RFEF president did not resign, and in which he offered a version of events which did not in any way reflect the feelings of this player, who has stated openly that she felt the ‘victim of an aggression’, these members of the technical team support the player Jennifer Hermoso by fully accepting her version.”
The head coach of Spain’s women’s national team Jorge Vilda criticised the “improper behaviour” of Rubiales but said that he is staying on.
Monday, part one: Rubiales’ mother goes on hunger strike
After a (relatively) quiet Sunday, on Monday morning, news breaks that Rubiales’ mother, Angeles Bejar, had locked herself inside a church in Granada and gone on a hunger strike in protest at the treatment of her son.
Rubiales’ cousin, Vanesa Ruiz Bejar, speaks to the media outside the church about his mother.
“His mother, who is a very religious person, has taken refuge in God and has gone on hunger strike,” Vanesa said. “She does not want to leave the church.
“She’s very unwell, she’s an old woman, not in very good health, and she’s suffering a lot.
“His family is suffering a lot for him. What is happening does not seem fair to us. He has been judged before time, which does not seem normal to us.
“The evidence speaks for itself. There’s audio, there’s video. We want Jenni to tell the truth. She’s changed her version three times. Jenni, we want you to tell the truth.”
Asked how long Angeles’ hunger strike will last, Vanesa replied: “Until Jenni speaks the truth.”
Monday, part two: Spanish prosecutors open investigation
Spanish prosecutors open a sexual assault investigation into Rubiales.
Monday, part three: RFEF regional leaders request Rubiales resigns
On Monday evening, regional leaders from the Spanish football association (RFEF) request Rubiales resigns as president.
The decision was made following a meeting of the commission of presidents of regional and territorial federations of the RFEF in Madrid.
An RFEF statement read: “After the latest events and the unacceptable behaviours that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, the presidents request that Mr. Luis Rubiales immediately present his resignation as president of the RFEF.
“We will urge the corresponding bodies to carry out a deep and imminent organic restructuring in strategic positions of the Federation to give way to a new stage of management in Spanish football.”
(Top photo: Noemi Llamas/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
