Present at the extraordinary general assembly of the organization on Friday noon, Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish Football Federation, refused to resign from his position despite the immense pressure he is facing after forcibly kissing a player of the Spanish national women’s team during the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
“I will not resign, I will not resign!” Luis Rubiales exclaimed as the entire Spanish press reported that he was going to step down. He added, “Is a consensual kiss going to make me leave? Come on… I will fight until the end. Until the end. I hope the law will be applied.”
However, he did apologize for his gesture, which was deemed as a forced kiss on Jennifer Hermoso’s lips, claiming that the action was actually consensual. “I had never behaved like that before, the emotion was high. It was a spontaneous, mutual, euphoric, consensual kiss. That’s the key. Yes, it was consensual. The desire I had in giving that kiss was the same as the one I would have had in kissing my daughter, there was no domination here,” he added.
Lynched in the Spanish and international media since the incident and targeted by various women’s rights organizations, Rubiales denounces “false feminism.” “A social murder is being committed. They are trying to kill me. As a Spaniard, I think we need to reflect on the direction we are taking. My daughters must learn a lesson today: equality is about differentiating between truth and lies. You are (pointing to his daughters) true feminism, not the fake feminism that exists,” he declared.
As a reminder, in a statement released this Thursday afternoon, FIFA announced the opening of a disciplinary procedure against Luis Rubiales. On her part, Jenni Hermoso, the victim of this “forced” kiss, is demanding sanctions against the president of the Spanish Football Federation.
