UPDATE:
The Guardian has a good article today on this story. For one thing, Jenni Hermoso is now pretty much a hero everywhere in Spain.
When Jenni Hermoso arrived in the stands, the standing ovation was thundering. On the field below, Atlético de Madrid and AC Milan were battling it out for the Women’s Cup, but the message – scrawled on posters, temporary tattoos and a metres-long banner unfurled by the players – was unanimous at the stadium in Madrid on Saturday night: “We’re with you, Jenni Hermoso.”
The hashtag #SeAcabó (it’s over) took over evidently everywhere, as people celebrated Rubiales’ suspension. It’s not clear that it’s “over” completely at this point, since FIFA will be giving him what amounts to a trial to defend himself. But everyone has already heard his “defense”, and seems to have decided whom to believe.
Perhaps the most important quote from the article is this one by journalist Irantzu Varela on social media:
“To all the guys who are stunned by the reaction against Rubiales; it’s because this has happened to all of us, with our boss, with our client, with our teacher, with our friend, with a stranger, with you?”
Her observation is important and valid, not just in Spain but everywhere. Toxic masculinists, take note.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
I’m not really a sports person. Everyone was surprised when I found myself glued to the Sky Sports channel for virtually every Women’s Football Game. Living in Auckland, New Zealand — who co-hosted the championship with Australia — I even attended a match in person. It’s the first sporting event I’ve been to since my high school friend convinced me to go to a San Diego Padres game with him, many years ago. Back in the present time-frame, the US & Portuguese teams tied, 0-0. Although I’m American, I was not disappointed; I saw some good football, which was the whole point.
With millions of other people around the world, I watched the final game, England vs. Spain, on TV. Spain scored a goal; England didn’t; the timer ran out, and the celebrations started. Elated Spaniards, downcast Englishpersons, fireworks, hugging — team captain Olga Carmona was absolutely buried under an ecstatic mob of teammates. One iconic image showed Spanish defender Ona Batlle hugging and comforting her English rival, Lucy Bronze. Do victorious male players comfort their losing rivals? I don’t know enough to answer that; it was a touching moment.
And then there was the kiss. Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales took champion goal scoring forward Jenni Hermoso by the head, and kissed her on the lips. Even the announcers were surprised; was this just an exuberant display of triumph? Or something else?
It turns out to have been something else. Hermoso objected strongly to the incident, and made her feelings clear in no uncertain terms, publicly: she did not like and did not consent to the kiss. Rubiales insisted the kiss was consensual. In a speech before the Spanish Football Federation, which the full coaching staff were required to attend — female staff placed in the front row for show — he brazenly accused Jenni Hermoso of lying. Large numbers of Spanish football players — mostly female, but some male allies as well — announced they were refusing to play, or to participate in any form, until Rubiales was removed as President. The Federation, under Rubiales’ direction, doubled down, threatening to sue those players. The conflict was picked up internationally: BBC, NYT, CNN, Le Monde, etc. The Spanish government roundly condemned Rubiales’s blatant machismo, as did football players internationally including the US team captain, Alex Morgan.Tens of thousands of demonstrators took the the streets in Spanish cities.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has also given his “unconditional support to Jenni and the players,"
Today FIFA, the international Football Federation, took matters to the next level: Rubiales is suspended. The suspension is temporary at this point, pending a full investigation. Rubiales, in true Trumpian style, insists that he is the “victim” here, and that he will “prove” that in his defense. But he has been abandoned on virtually all sides; his entire coaching staff save one have quit, refusing to work under him, and the video of him grabbing Hermoso’s head is publicly available. His only defense is that Jenni Hermoso is lying when she says it was not consensual. Hopefully, we are far enough along in the “#MeToo” story that when a woman says she did not consent, it means that she did not consent. For many observers, it’s one level of offense to have kissed her in a moment of victorious passion, quite another to refuse to take ownership of his offensive behavior, and beyond unacceptable for him to defend that behavior by insisting that the victim of it is just lying.
The suspension will last at least 90 days; no one knows for certain at this point what fate they will assign to the formerly highly placed Rubiales. In the context of their highly-touted statements on gender equality, it would not look good for them to take a weak stand on this incident. And they have taken the further step of prohibiting Rubiales and the Spanish Federation from contacting Hermoso and those close to her; Hermoso has stated that she was refusing to give in to pressure to sign a “statement” in favor of Rubiales’ version of events. In the meantime, the Spanish Government’s Superior Council on Sports has made an unequivocal statement: Rubiales’ actions appear to violate both the Council’s decree on abuse of authority and the one maintaining dignity and decorum in sports. If FIFA fails to act decisively, the government may thus be in a position to do so.