FIFA has suspended Luis Rubiales, the discredited president of the Spanish Football Federation. His unwanted kiss to a player and especially the aftermath of it has been agitating for over a week. That is not surprising: in Spanish women’s football, the wound has been festering for a long time. The dawdling at FIFA has not helped either.
Almost a week after the incident at the Women’s World Cup, FIFA said it had had enough. Spanish federation president Rubiales (46) must refrain from all football-related activities for 90 days, pending disciplinary proceedings.
For those who are not with us: Rubiales worked himself into the spotlight last Sunday, when the Spanish women’s team conquered the World Cup, by kissing attacker Jennifer Hermoso full on the mouth during the celebration. That night he also threw soccer star Athenea del Castillo Beivide over his shoulder, squeezing her thighs, and had already reached for his crotch in the stands. In the presence of the Spanish Queen Letizia, of all places.
The following days the escalation followed. A combative Rubiales claimed at a press conference that the kiss was not unwanted, spoke of “false feminism” and threatened a lawsuit to clear his name. His comments were greeted with applause by his colleagues at the Spanish Football Federation. The association also sent out a photo reconstruction of the incident to support Rubiales’ argument and took legal action against Hermoso and players’ union Futpro “to defend the honor of our chairman”.
“I followed the events with disgust,” responds criminologist Tine Vertommen, who studies transgressive behavior in the sports world at Thomas Moore. “The kiss was a clear case of transgressive behavior – it was not voluntary, there was no consent or equality – but the reaction of the Spanish Football Federation is especially hallucinatory. We call that victim blaming and the negative bystanders or the sometimes malicious role of bystanders. FIFA should also have intervened much faster: the controversy surrounding Rubiales had plenty of time to swell further.”
The consequences are therefore corresponding: 83 football players have announced that they no longer want to play international matches under the current national leadership, 11 employees of the women’s team have already submitted their resignations. Football heroes such as David De Gea and Iker Casillas called Rubiales’ behavior shameful, even Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz condemned the whole thing. Rubiales and co. have been world news for over a week now.
Complete chaos and that is a pity, says Dominique Reyns, chairwoman of KAA Gent Ladies. “I have been in the football world for thirty years and I have never experienced anything like this. I especially regret that this incident has attracted attention all week, to the detriment of the beautiful victory of the Spanish national team and women’s sport in general.” In other words: does anyone actually know that the Spaniards won 1-0 against England on Sunday?
“This situation is structurally damaging women’s football and the sporting world,” agrees professor of sports sciences Dolors Ribalta Alcalde (Universitat Ramon Llull) in The New York Times. But the events of last week, she says, mainly illustrate the way in which the Spanish women’s team has been treated for a long time.
For example, the team has had to do for years without proper training facilities and football jerseys tailored to women. And in September last year, the players already rebelled in vain against their national coach Jorge Vilda, who allegedly uses outdated training methods and is excessively controlling. Spicy detail: the same Vilda was explicitly thanked by Rubiales last week with a generous contract for the next four years.
Also striking: the previous coach, Ignacio Quereda, was able to stay on for no less than 27 years. Only after a disappointing World Cup in 2015 were complaints from players about sexism and harassment taken seriously and Quereda was fired. “This is a key moment, we have to work on change,” Professor Ribalta exclaims.
“This affair is also not surprising because factors play a role in sport that can encourage transgressive behavior,” Vertommen adds. She sums up: it is a mostly male-dominated world, physical touches are not uncommon and emotions flare up. “That can lead to serious facts, but also to inappropriate behavior such as pinching the buttocks, making sexual comments or getting too close.”
There are no figures on this type of behavior among adult (top) athletes, but in 2021 a study by the University of Antwerp reported that one in five Flemish athletes experience sexually transgressive behavior in sport before the age of eighteen. “Young people in a top sports trajectory appear more often in the statistics. Because they exercise more, of course, but also: they travel more, have a close relationship of trust with their entourage and are under great pressure,” says Vertommen.
What remains with the researcher is that, compared to other sports, FIFA has a sound policy on transgressive behaviour. “At least, on paper. But last week we also learned that protocols are no guarantee for a quick and adequate response to an incident that took place in front of millions of viewers.”
