Footballer Jenni Hermoso has filed an official complaint with the prosecutor's office over an "unsolicited kiss" by Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Luis, 46, came under fire after footage emerged of him kissing Jenni, 33, directly on the lips after Spain beat England 1-0 in the Women's World Cup final on August 20. The kiss was captured on camera during the post-match trophy presentation, subsequently prompting mass debate and outrage.
Luis continues to state that the kiss was consensual, however Jenni Hermoso has repeatedly expressed that she did not give consent. In a statement issued on August 25, she said: “I feel obligated to say that the words of Mr. Luis Rubiales explaining the unfortunate event are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture he has created.”
“I want to make clear that not in any moment did the conversation occur that Mr. Luis Rubiales references, and much less that his kiss was consensual. In the same way, I want to reiterate how I did in that moment, that what happened was not enjoyable.”
Calling out sexism is simply too much like hard work.
She continued: "The situation left me in shock because of the context of the celebration, and with the time passed, and those initial feelings being able to sink, I feel the need to denounce this as I feel that no one, in no work space, sporting or social, should be a victim to this time of unconsensual behaviour. I felt vulnerable and a victim of aggression, an impulsive act, sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part. In short, I wasn’t respected."
Luis has now been suspended from his presidential position in Spanish football. This comes after Jorge Vilda, the head coach of the Spanish Women's team, was sacked amid the ongoing controversy (though the Spanish federation the RFEF has not yet provided a specific reason for his dismissal). Despite calls to resign, from the public and prominent members of the football community, Luis has so far refused to step down. The former professional athlete's first dismissal over the kiss came shortly after the World Cup game, where he referred to the moment as a “minor show of affection." He told the broadcaster COPE that it was “a kiss between two friends celebrating something," dismissing those who saw it differently as “idiots and stupid people."
Meanwhile, Spain's Minister of Equality, Irene Monteroy described the exchange as “a form of sexual violence that we women suffer on a daily basis and until now has been invisible."
