On Friday, Luis Rubiales who is the Spanish soccer federation president went through an emergency meeting of its general assembly after media reports emerged that he will resign after kissing a Women's World Cup champion, as per the report by The Associated Press. Rubiales who is 46 years old is likely to stand before the representatives of Spain’s regional federations, clubs, players, coaches, and referees in Madrid. According to the local reports, he is likely to step down from his post.
The Spanish soccer federation president is under a lot of pressure to resign from his position after he held Jenni Hermoso and kissed her on the lips without asking her during the award function post Spain’s 1-0 win over England on Sunday in Sydney, Australia.
After landing in a controversy, Rubiales came up with an apology. "Surely I was wrong, I have to admit," Reuters quoted Rubiales as saying in a video statement.
"It was without bad faith at a time of maximum effusiveness."
The incident transpired when Rubiales was presenting gold medals to the Spanish team after their 1-0 victory over England in the final. He also reflected on his mistake in a statement that was released by the federation. The controversial incident has led to a debate around consent and gender issues in Spain. The Spain government has made important legal regulations regarding gender change, abortion, and sex work. Luis Rubiales’ mistake has brought attention to the bigger issue of non-consensual actions.
A lot of ministers of the Spain government including Acting Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz and Acting Culture and Sports Minister Miquel Iceta have condemned the incident where Diaz went on to call for Rubiales’ resignation after the conscious attack on the football player. Even after all the chaos that happened, Hermoso wants to focus on her success as a world champion and also expressed her wish for the attention to move away from the incident.