Spanish football can consider itself in crisis on Friday night after Jenni Hermoso issued an unequivocal statement regarding the unsolicited kiss she received from Spanish Football Federation president, Luis Rubiales.
So strongly worded was her statement, that it really has left Rubiales nowhere to go, despite his protestations earlier in the day that he would not resign after a trial by social media.
Official Announcement. August 25th,2023. pic.twitter.com/lQb18IGsk2
— Jenn1 Hermos0 (@Jennihermoso) August 25, 2023
The entire Spain Women’s squad, less than a week after becoming World Cup winners, have now gone on strike in support of Hermoso, and the player has made it crystal clear that she did not instigate nor want to be kissed by Rubiales.
Furthermore, the statement speaks of a culture in Spanish women’s football that is manipulative and created by the president himself.
If that were not enough, the England Lionesses who were conquered by Spain in the final last weekend, have come out in support.
Jess Carter posted the following on her Twitter account, as football’s very own ‘me too’ movement gathers pace and puts incredible pressure back on Rubiales to do the decent thing:
— Jess Carter (@_JessCarter) August 25, 2023
The incredibly bad publicity around the world for the federation surely can’t be allowed to continue, and if Rubiales insists that he won’t resign, it may well fall upon his bosses to remove him from the position.
It isn’t only this one issue that will need to be resolved now either, because it has opened a can of worms that appears to have long been kept quiet.