Nicolas Salvado with AFP / Photo credit: EIDAN RUBIO / RFEF / AFP
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7:29 p.m., August 28, 2023
Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales, whose forced kiss to world champion Jenni Hermoso sparked a wave of indignation, is in the sights of Spanish justice which announced on Monday the opening of a preliminary investigation for ” sexual assault”.
Jenni Hermoso invited to “file a complaint”
This investigation relates to “facts which could constitute an offense of sexual assault”, indicated, in a press release, the Spanish prosecutor’s office which invites the player to contact him “within 15 days” in order to be “informed of her rights as a victim” and to “file a complaint” if she wishes. According to the prosecution, a complaint from Jenni Hermoso is essential for the launch of any legal action against the president of the RFEF, a spokeswoman told AFP. Other complaints have already been filed against Luis Rubiales but none come from the player.
Seized by the Spanish government, the Administrative Court of Sports (TAD) met for its part on Monday to decide on the complaint of the left executive against Luis Rubiales. If the TAD opens a procedure, the Higher Sports Council (CSD), a government body whose president must speak at 6:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. GMT), may then suspend the leader until the case is judged on the merits.
Luis Rubiales suspended by FIFA
46-year-old Luis Rubiales was already suspended on Saturday by Fifa “from all football-related activity at national and international level” for 90 days. The affair, already dubbed the “#MeToo of Spanish football” and which eclipsed the world title of La Roja Feminine, caused a wave of indignation in Spain but also abroad.
Several men’s and women’s football teams across the country displayed banners or T-shirts with the inscription #SeAcabo (let’s end it) to demand an end to impunity for sexist acts and sexual violence, a slogan that has gone viral on social networks. The convictions have gone beyond the world of football, with Spanish basketball legend Pau Gasol, and sports with Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman.
“The government has an obligation to act”
In a country considered very advanced in terms of women’s rights, the government of socialist Pedro Sanchez is particularly virulent against Luis Rubiales. “Faced with a non-consensual kiss”, which can constitute sexual assault according to the Spanish Penal Code, “the government has an obligation to act”, estimated Monday the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero. “It is very important that Rubiales does not remain in office,” she added. The government’s number three, Yolanda Diaz, announced the filing of another complaint before the CSD to demand that the federation respect the law on gender parity in its management bodies, which is a “key against machismo structural”.
Minutes after La Roja won the World Cup final against England on August 20, Rubiales threw Spanish football into chaos by kissing Jenni Hermoso on the mouth during the medal ceremony in Sydney . Her refusal, against all odds, to resign on Friday despite intense pressure shocked as did her violent speech against a supposed “false feminism”. The former defender insists that this kiss was “consensual”. A version categorically denied by the world champion who said she felt “vulnerable and victim of an attack (…) without any consent on my part”.
Denouncing the “harassment”, of which Luis Rubiales would be the victim, his mother began a hunger strike in a church in Motril (south), Vanessa Ruiz Bejar, a cousin of the president of the federation, told the press.
Under pressure
In the midst of the candidacy process for the organization of the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Morocco, the RFEF convened an extraordinary meeting of the presidents of the regional federations on Monday afternoon. The body is under pressure as the 23 players of La Roja refuse to play under the current management and six members of the management of the women’s selection resigned on Saturday.
Several voices also called on Friday the leaders of the federation who applauded Friday’s speech by Luis Rubiales to resign. “Those who applaud an alleged sexual assault (…) should not be able to maintain their posts”, launched Yolanda Diaz in particular.