IT should have been one of Spain’s proudest moments as the country lifted the Women’s World Cup after beating England in a thrilling final.
But a “celebratory” kiss planted on striker Jenni Hermoso by her football association boss has seen anger replace joy and led to thousands of women taking to the streets in protest.
The #MeToo-style revolution that has been unleashed and is reverberating through Spain has also caused mass resignations and even a dramatic hunger strike.
Gender issues have become a prominent topic in the country in recent years, with marches against sexual violence and reforms around equal pay and abortion rights.
Now the outpouring of solidarity for forward Hermoso, 33 — who received the unwanted kiss on the lips from Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales — may yet prove more significant than the victory in the final itself.
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Reserve goalie Misa Rodriguez tweeted a cartoon of an old woman and a child with the caption: “Grandma, tell me about how your team won the World Cup.”
The grandmother answers: “We didn’t just win the World Cup, little one. We won so much more.”
Social media has been flooded with posts bearing the hashtag #SeAcabo, meaning, “It’s over”.
And in an extraordinary mutiny, Hermoso, her 23 World Cup team mates and 56 other women footballers have refused to play for Spain while Rubiales remains in post.
Fifa have stepped in, removing Rubiales from all football-related activities for 90 days.
Bizarre and crude
On Monday, Spanish prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Rubiales’ behaviour.
His own RFEF association has even called on him to step down.
But Rubiales, 46, has remained bullishly unrepentant, insisting the kiss was consensual.
His mum, Angeles Bejar, has locked herself inside a church and gone on hunger strike in protest at her son’s treatment.
She insisted: “I will remain here for as long as my body can.
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“I am willing to die for justice because my son is a decent person and it is not fair what they’re doing.”
Rubiales’ cousin Vanessa Ruiz says the family want Hermoso to “tell the truth” and acknowledge that the kiss was not forced.
For her part, the player says she was “the victim of an aggression” and “at no time did I consent to the kiss he gave me”.
This dispiriting story began in what should have been a joyous occasion amid the heaving cauldron of Stadium Australia on August 20.
Spain had dominated the first half against England, going 1-0 up.
Then with 20 minutes to go, La Roja (The Red One), as the Spain team are nicknamed, were awarded a penalty.
Veteran striker Hermoso stepped up to take it, only to see it saved by Lioness keeper Mary Earps in front of more than 75,000 fans.
Spain clung on to win by their single goal. As the final whistle sounded, Rubiales leapt up to celebrate in bizarre and crude fashion.
Standing next to Spain’s queen and her 16-year-old daughter, he gestured at the players on the field, then grabbed his crotch.
Worse was to follow.
Rubiales, also a vice-president of European football’s governing body Uefa, was positioned on the winners’ rostrum to greet his victorious team.
As Hermoso approached, he hugged her around the neck and appeared to lift his body weight off the ground and swing both knees close to her hips.
Then he dropped his feet to the ground, cupped his hands around her head and kissed her on the lips.
Back in the dressing room, La Roja players replayed the incident on a phone.
As some of the Spain stars giggled and screamed, Hermoso could be seen shouting: “But I didn’t like it!”
When quizzed about his behaviour afterwards, Rubiales dismissed critics of his unwanted kiss as “idiots”.
He added: “When two people have a minor show of affection, we can’t listen to idiocy. We are champions and that’s what I’ll take.”
Yet many around the world were now talking about his boorish and sexist behaviour rather than La Roja’s brilliant victory.
Miquel Iceta, Spain’s minister for culture and sport, said: “We’re in a moment of equality, of rights and respect for women.
“I think it’s unacceptable to kiss a player on the lips to congratulate her.”
As the Spanish team stopped off in Qatar en route home, Rubiales finally issued a mealy-mouthed apology, saying he was, “Sorry to those who were offended”.
Later that same day, the RFEF released a statement on behalf of Hermoso in an attempt to draw a line under the furore.
It quoted Hermoso as saying: “It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture due to the immense joy of winning a World Cup.
“The president and I have a great relationship, his behaviour with all of us has been excellent and it was a natural gesture of affection and gratitude.”
But players’ body FIFPRO, which represents 65,000 footballers worldwide, took a different view.
It said in a statement: “Uninitiated and uninvited physical gestures towards players are not appropriate or acceptable in any context.
“This is especially true when players are put in a position of vulnerability because a physical approach or gesture is initiated by a person who holds power over them.”
Back in Spain, the country’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said Rubiales’ apology was “insufficient and inadequate”.
He added: “It shows that in our country there’s a long way to go in terms of equality and respect between men and women.”
As pressure built, there were reports that Rubiales was set to resign.
Then last Friday, the defiant chief not only refused to quit but also cast himself as the victim.
He tried to make amends for his crotch grab, saying: “I have to apologise to the royal family. It wasn’t very edifying.”
‘False feminism’
He suggested there was “no dominance” in the kiss planted on Hermoso and claimed he asked the player if she agreed to “a peck” and she had said yes.
Rubiales insisted he was subject to a “social assassination”, adding that his critics were harnessing “false feminism, one of the scourges of this country”.
Hermoso hit back, calling Rubiales’ claims “categorically false and part of the manipulative culture that he himself has generated”.
She said: “At no time did I consent to the kiss. It fills us with sadness that such an unacceptable event is managing to tarnish the greatest sporting success of Spanish women’s football.”
But RFEF hit back, accusing Hermoso of “lies’” and threatening legal action.
Hermoso’s teammates rallied round, boycotting the national team.
And 11 enraged technical staff from Spain’s women’s team quit.
The Spanish government has begun legal proceedings to suspend Rubiales.
But staggeringly, he remains in post with a key role in trying to win Spain’s joint bid to host the 2030 men’s World Cup.
Born in the Canary Islands and raised in Motril, southern Spain, Rubiales was a journeyman defender for teams including Mallorca B and Hamilton in Scotland.
He became RFEF chief in 2018, earning some £300,000. He also earns around £210,000 as a Uefa vice-president.
But his tenure at the Spanish FA has been dogged by allegations of sleaze.
In 2020, his uncle, Juan Rubiales, told Spanish anti-corruption prosecutors that his nephew ordered him to use FA funds to pay for a private party with eight or ten young women said to be sex workers.
Juan, who Rubiales had sacked as his head of staff, claimed the women attended the “orgies” under the pretext of a work event.
RFEF denied the claim, saying it was a “new exercise in falsehoods by a former federative employee motivated by spite”.
Dad-of-three Rubiales, who is separated from his wife, is being investigated by Spanish authorities for using RFEF funds for a week-long break in New York with partner Roberta Lobeira, a Mexican painter.
Rubiales insists he was meeting UN and Major League Soccer representatives.
Meanwhile, Hermoso was met with rapturous applause when attending the Women’s Cup final between Atletico Madrid and AC Milan on Saturday.
The players unfurled a giant banner reading, “We’re with you, Jenni Hermoso”, as did players at her club team of Pachuca in Mexico.
And millions watching this sorry saga unfold will surely agree.
