Jenni Hermoso, the attacking midfielder on Spain’s World Cup champion team, broke her silence Wednesday, urging action in a joint statement with her players’ union after she was on the receiving end of a kiss from Spain football federation president Luis Rubiales.
FUTPRO, the union that represents women’s players in Spain, appealed to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to ensure the rights of the players after Rubiales kissed Hermoso without her consent during the awards ceremony after Sunday’s World Cup final.
Government officials have called for Rubiales to resign following the manner of his behaviour after Spain beat England 1-0 in Sydney, while acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Rubiales’ belated apology “insufficient and inadequate.”
“My union, FUTPRO, in coordination with my agency, TMJ, are taking care of defending my interests and being the interlocutors on this matter,” Hermoso said in a statement on Wednesday.
FUTPRO called the incidents involving Rubiales “acts that should never go unpunished” and said it would work to “sanction and adopt measures to protect the players against actions we believe are unacceptable.”
FIFPRO, the worldwide representative organisation for all professional footballers, later issued a statement supporting the AFE.
“FIFPRO fully endorses the statement of the AFE in calling for immediate action to address the conduct of Rubiales at the final and is requesting an investigation of his actions under FIFA’s code of ethics,” a statement said.
The RFEF have called a meeting for Friday. Although the agenda did not initially include a space to consider Rubiales’ antics after the final, sources indicated it will be discussed.
Rubiales, 46, initially refused to apologise, saying those offended were “idiots,” but later said sorry in a short video filmed as the Spain team returned from Australia.
Hermoso, who plays her club football in Mexico with Pachuca, said on an Instagram Live video that she did not like the kiss, but later released a statement through the RFEF downplaying the incident.
