We are now two weeks on from the shocking events of the Women’s World Cup final, when Spanish Football Association (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales planted a kiss on the lips of Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s 1-0 victory over England.
Rubiales also made inappropriate physical contact with other members of both the Spain and England teams, and grabbed his crotch while celebrating in the stands next to the Queen of Spain and her daughter.
Rubiales first called those who criticised this behaviour “dickheads” and “losers”, while the RFEF released a statement claiming that Hermoso herself had given consent to the kiss and was OK with everything that happened. Hermoso said the statement was false and was not issued with her authority.
Spain’s acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez and many others have called on Rubiales to resign, but his only official sanction has been a 90-day suspension from football activities issued by FIFA the day after he said he would not be stepping down.
Although Rubiales ally Jorge Vilda has been removed as women’s national team coach by interim RFEF president Pedro Rocha, Hermoso and 80 of her colleagues are not willing to play for Spain until there are deeper changes at the federation.
Here, The Athletic speaks to three expert observers who share their reflections on what happened in Sydney, and the global scrutiny that has focused on women’s football in Spain since.
_ Carmen Romero Bachiller is a professor of sociology at Madrid’s Universidad Complutense_
The #MeToo movement, or #Cuentalo (Tell It) here in Spain, was about situations of sexual abuse or aggression experienced by many women throughout their lives. In many circumstances, these were very serious.
In #SeAcabo (It’s Over, the phrase used by the 81 female players who condemned Rubiales and the RFEF), structural sexism has come to light, which we women live day to day.
With Rubiales’ kiss on Hermoso, society understood very clearly there was an abuse of power: there was no consent and it was sexual violence. But in some quarters, Hermoso was criticised. People were asking her to look unhappy but she had just won a World Cup.
In most of these cases of sexual abuse or aggression, they are situations women have been suffering for years. Many times, the woman just accepts it as normal, assumes there is nothing she can do. In the Spain dressing room, we saw Hermoso’s team-mates asking, “What did you do?”, and Jenni saying, “What could I do?”
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That is the question: What can you do in that situation? What can she do? Does she jump backwards, push him away? In front of everyone? It is a very violent situation where we have learned, been socialised, to not cause a scene.
All of Rubiales’ behaviour talking about “false feminism” — saying it was really consensual, making a statement in Jenni’s name without even asking her — shows that he is clearly out of step, and does not understand why what he did is not right. He has been surprised to learn that things are not as he thought they were.
Hermoso holds the World Cup trophy as Spain celebrates (Francisco Guerra/Europa Press via Getty Images)
But the RFEF is not a group of Martians that just landed mysteriously on Earth. This is something that happens in general society. There is a part of society, a minority, which is still resisting, or has not realised, that change is happening. Often these people are very visible, in the media, and continue to strengthen very traditional models.
The level of tolerance for these things has changed, and the collective response is very new. The reaction of Rubiales’ mother (she went on hunger strike) can be understood, she loves her son. But it fits very well with the idea that the guilt lay with the women who were brave enough to make a complaint and break the silence. They are accused of “social assassination”, the words Rubiales used. They are the guilty parties.
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Spain’s men’s players finally made a statement about what happened at the World Cup last Monday. The statement said Rubiales’ behaviour was “unacceptable” but did not mention Hermoso at all.Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal has refused even to criticise Rubiales, and said he had always been exceptionally helpful to the men’s team.
_ Romero Bachiller:_ The men’s players’ reaction was very late and very weak. Many of them might have been surprised by all this. They have things that they need to realise themselves. This is the key, it is part of a structural environment.
‘Se Acabo’ is interesting as it points out that structure — with issues like unequal salaries in the RFEF between men and women, and unequal treatment that does not correspond with the results. What is happening is putting the focus on structural inequality and structural violence, maybe of a low intensity, but continual.
Madrid-based researchers 40dB held a poll for newspaper El Pais this week in which 72 per cent of respondents said that Rubiales’ behaviour after the World Cup final was “unacceptable”. The votes varied depending on party allegiance of the respondents. From 88 per cent of Sumar (left-wing party) voters down to 52 per cent of Vox supporters (far-right party)
_ Romero Bachiller:_ People of different political persuasions shared the understanding that it was something unacceptable. Like other far-right movements around the world, Vox uses gender issues as one of its pillars.
Certain sectors of the far right confront all the advances around equality, gender rights, LGBTQ+ rights, human rights in a broader sense. They feel they are being attacked, as they do not realise their own traditional privileges. They see a situation of equality as aggression against them. There are some people like that in Spain but they are now a clear minority. We saw that in how Vox lost votes in the recent elections, and the PP (centre-right Partido Popular) did not get the expected electoral boost.
Men are asking: what is acceptable now, what do I need to rethink? That is new and important. Previously they were not even aware. But that is how privilege works, it hides the oppression from sight. That abuse and violence against women — low intensity, but daily — was not seen as abuse or violence.
_ Arantxa Uria is vice president of Spain’s Association of Women in Professional Sport and an agent of professional players._
I was watching the World Cup final. I was very happy because few people expected Spain to win it.
And suddenly I saw that (Rubiales’ kiss on Hermoso) and I was a bit shocked. I asked myself if I had really seen what I had seen. Immediately my phone began to smoke, others who had seen it were calling me. We knew that something big was going to happen.
If this had happened in a Spanish league match, it would have ended there. We would have denounced it to the High Council for Sports (CSD, a government body), but the complaint would likely have been thrown in a drawer and forgotten about.
For years now, we have been denouncing such behaviour. Normally it happens behind closed doors, when nobody is watching. The CSD never took our complaints seriously. It always seemed the word of the person who committed the abuse counted for more than the person who suffered it.
Vilda (right) celebrates with the now-suspended Rubiales (Maja Hitij – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Pedro Sanchez quickly said that Rubiales’ actions were “unacceptable” and government ministers Yolanda Diaz and Irene Montero said he had committed “sexual abuse” and must resign immediately.
The government began a complex legal process involving the CSD and TAD (Administrative Sports Tribunal), which has yet to lead to action. Last week, Rubiales actually hailed a TAD decision to investigate him on the lesser of two potential charges, as he felt it vindicated him. Since acting president Rocha took over, the RFEF has called Rubiales’ behaviour at the World Cup “totally unacceptable”, but it has not fired him.
Uria: That is the usual way that it works. The government makes strong declarations that they want changes and consequences, but then nothing is done. The CSD always waits for a third party to step up and do something for them. Rubiales is still president. FIFA suspended him for 90 days, but the Spanish sporting authorities have not given him any kind of suspension or punishment. So he could be back once those 90 days are over.
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It is very difficult to do anything against the RFEF system. The structure has been run for many years in a totally clientelist way. So they work away as they wish, ensuring their positions for many years, and nothing ever happens. Rubiales acted as he did, even with the cameras on him, as he felt untouchable.
At protests across Spain, there have been calls for Rubiales to resign (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Hermoso on Wednesday made a statement to prosecutors in Madrid. It could lead to charges of sexual assault against Rubiales.
Uria: With Rubiales, there were two routes. The RFEF itself could bring a motion of censure, which it has not. Or to wait for the victim, Hermoso, to make her complaint to prosecutors. Now that she has done that, the whole judicial machinery will start up. The first thing is to see whether the case will be heard in Spain or Australia, where the acts took place. That will need the cooperation of the Australian authorities. And now the government can say we cannot get involved as there is an open legal case, and with separation of powers, we cannot do anything.
The system can only be broken if there is political will to do it. Ideally, the electoral systems within the federations would be made democratic. The current system is based on regional federations — known as ‘estates’. It’s just like in the Middle Ages — each estate has its president, and they are the ones who elect the RFEF president.
We don’t care if the RFEF president is a man or a woman, we just want someone who lives in the 21st century and applies the regulations of transparency, equality and democracy, to avoid these abuses of power, sexual abuse, all kinds of abuse. There needs to be transparency so we know how the money coming into women’s football is shared. It seems easy, but it has been impossible.
Spain are next due to play on September 26 (Maddie Meyer – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Spain’s women’s side has two UEFA Nations League matches coming soon — on Friday, September 22 againstSweden in Gothenburg, and four days later at home to Switzerland in Cordoba. However, 81 players are refusing to play for the team until there are further changes at the federation.
Uria: These players know they have some power to try to make some real changes. So that it is not just that Vilda is fired. Much more is needed. They want a democratic and transparent system, where the protocols are applied.
Since the World Cup, we have not had one day’s rest. We are exhausted, but also really want to continue, because we have to do this. The powerful social response means that many who have been through this type of experience are now calling us, to tell us what happened to them.
When you love your sport, and you know that it could end your career, it is really difficult to speak up. Female athletes have felt very alone, abandoned. We want to use what has happened to really advance the change to a more equal, transparent and healthy sport. Now people feel they will have backing that previously was not there.
Now they will be listened to. It will not be so easy to throw a complaint like this in a drawer and continue as if nothing had happened.
_ Antonia ‘Tona’ Is played on the Spain team that finished third at the 1997 Women’s European Championship. She later coached Spain’s female Under-17 side, winning the European Championship in 2017. She was removed from that position by Rubiales in January 2020 and left the RFEF. She later worked for Mexican club Pachuca but is currently without a job in football._
Almost all those players at the World Cup passed through my hands. I was so excited to see them there, and it was so gratifying that so many have evolved as athletes and as people too.
When (the kiss) happened, we said, “Caramba, he’s kissed her on the mouth!” Then we saw the horrific images of his gestures from the VIP area. A president of the RFEF, who represents a sport and a country, cannot behave like that.
Ay señor ! 🫣🫣😧😧 pic.twitter.com/3eyjY69kO0
— JesúsGallego🐬 (@JGALLEGOonfire) August 21, 2023
Those of us who played before opened the path for these players. We went through bad times as we did not have the infrastructure, or the coaches with the quality, formation and level.
As a player, then as a national youth coach, the treatment received was not correct, from many people there (at the RFEF). There have been some improvements in the federation, but the players achieved winning a World Cup almost on their own. Spain deserved something like this, for what we have fought for over so many years.
Tona was watching online as Rubiales gave his speech at an RFEF assembly on August 25, when he refused to resign and instead attacked Hermoso for not agreeing with his version of what happened between them. Women’s coach Vilda and most of his staff gave that speech a standing ovation.
Tona: It was shameful, unacceptable. We women who work in football felt so much anger and impotence seeing the coaching staff of the women’s team applauding, the entire coaching staff except two girls. Then when FIFA punished Rubiales, they brought out their statement, saying they had been obliged to sit in the front row. But they did not need to applaud. That let the players down, and let women’s football down. Their statement was too late. They should have first supported the players. They should have stood up and said, “We can go no further.”
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At the RFEF, you are either with the boss or you are out. The moment you think in a different way to them, you are no use there any more. And if you are a woman, you are there because you bow your head. That is the case for most of them who are there, but not all. It’s very sweet to be on the RFEF staff but it should not be at any price. I have my principles and my values, and I have to stick to them until the end. My values were to support the players back then when I worked there, and Jenni in this case now.
Acting federation president Pedro Rocha has removed Vilda and replaced him with former Spain assistant Montserrat Tome, and there have been other internal movements with Elvira Andres and Marisa Gonzalez appointed as Rocha’s chief of staff, with the remit to run its ‘Equality Division’.
Tona: Firing Vilda was the first step, but they have left a line of continuity. Spanish women’s football needs new leadership for the future, a complete restructuring. There are many of us who know the place very well. Step-by-step we could introduce the changes that are necessary.
But I don’t think anything is going to change. Not much is going to be resolved until there is a new president who is willing to change practically everything. I don’t know if the players will accept a call-up now or not.
I had a bad time there. I would like more people to speak up, but for different reasons, they cannot.
(Top photo: Noemi Llamas/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
