Spain’s Sexist Soccer Saga
Spanish Women On Top of The World - Misogyny tries to drag them back down
Michael Tuohy
It has been a tumultuous few weeks for women's football, as it deals with the aftermath of Luis Rubiales, President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) forcefully kissing Spanish national star Jenni Hermoso on the lips at the Women's World Cup final without her consent. The row over the Spanish football president's actions, broadcast and seen by millions, has spilled over well beyond Spain and the sport.
The 33-year-old spoke out to say that she had been a 'victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act' and did not consent to this. “The situation shocked me given the celebrations that were taking place at the moment, and with the passage of time and after delving a little deeper into those initial feelings,” Hermoso said. “I feel the need to report this incident because I believe that no person, in any work, sports or social setting should be a victim of these types of non-consensual behaviours. I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part.”
In the wake of the assault, RFEF issued a statement claiming to be from Jenni Hermoso justifying Rubiales’ actions. This statement had not been written or dictated by Hermoso. She had not played any part in issuing it. RFEF had taken away her agency after their president had assaulted her, adding further insult to a grievous injury.
It was truly shocking to see such brazen behaviour unfold on the biggest stage, but that moment was also, sadly, all too typical of the way women across the world are often treated in the game’s shadows. Far too many players can tell you stories of organisations, clubs, and coaches with seedy undertones. Over the years I’ve seen and heard enough not to be surprised by Rubiales’s audacity in thinking he could get away with it. In his world, as president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF) and let’s not forget, a UEFA vice‑president, this is clearly normalised behaviour.
Rubiales is representative of a much bigger, systemic problem.
The Aftermath
Last Friday, Rubiales addressed an emergency meeting of Spanish federation delegates but rather than apologising to Hermoso and expressing regret for ruining the biggest moment of the Spain players’ careers he painted himself as the victim of a witch-hunt.
As he kept reiterating his refusal to resign, Rubiales – now suspended by FIFA – drew loud cheers from several delegates. Those applauding him included Jorge Vilda and Luis de la Fuente, managers of Spain’s women’s and men’s teams respectively.
Both men have since performed volte-faces and condemned the 'kiss', not because of moral reasons, but for the sake of saving their own hides. On Monday the Spanish football federation’s regional presidents demanded Rubiales immediately resign, but it’s hard to forget that they clapped Rubiales and that Vilda had been kept in his job in the face of long-running player complaints regarding his allegedly controlling behaviour. It can’t be emphasised just how much Vilda is hated by the Spanish National Team. He and most of his staff weren’t included in the players’ celebrations at the World Cup for a reason.
Perhaps only Rubiales could have been sufficiently brass-necked to unmask his true self on such a grand platform in the full glare of the world’s cameras. Confirmation of a systemic problem within the Spanish federation arrived when Hermoso’s assertion that the kiss had most definitely not been consensual was dismissed, the Spanish federation promptly issued a statement claiming Rubiales “had not lied”, augmented by video footage showing images of Hermoso apparently lifting his feet off the ground. These images appeared to be photoshopped in order to follow Rubiales’ version of events. Talk about an organisation showing full-blown symptoms of extreme dysfunction.
Rubiales’ cheerleaders have been enablers. Their complicity has forced Jenni Hermoso into a period excruciating discomfort, even as she and her outstanding teammates beat England, even as they reached the pinnacle of this game, a certain type of man, with a certain attitude towards women, continued to undervalue them. Continued to treat them like an item, rather than a human being.
““Rubiales’s lack of respect for Hermoso and his crude crotch‑grabbing gesture in the VIP box reflected the patronising, often controlling, male dominated mindset that women in almost every industry, and from every part of society, recognise instantly.””
Rubiales’s lack of respect for Hermoso and his crude crotch‑grabbing gesture in the VIP box reflected the patronising, often controlling, male dominated mindset that women in almost every industry, and from every part of society, recognise instantly.
His family, for the most part, has come out in full support of him after his actions. Once Rubiales was banned from making any contact with Hermoso and 'her close environment', family members became his mouthpiece in the media. Rubiales’ mother locked herself in a local church and went on a two-day hunger strike.
Thankfully, a member of Rubiales’ family isn’t blinded by familial bond, as his uncle gave an astonishing interview that this writer recommends everyone has a look at.
In the interview, Juan Rubiales accuses his nephew of hosting parties with teenage girls under the age of 18 present, separately alleged that Luis misused public funding from the Spanish FA for his own and his family’s personal gain, and that he made up lies about a family member being shot for being a socialist during the Spanish Civil War.
What particularly concerns me is UEFA’s (The European Footballing Authority) failure to act. It refused the Spanish Federation’s request to suspend it from international competitions, a rule the Spanish Authority sought to invoke because of government interference over demands to remove Rubiales from office. Why is UEFA not investigating the conduct of one of its vice‑presidents? It took days before a member of UEFA’s board even spoke of the incident, with Alexander Čeferin stating “He’s already suspended. We can’t suspend him twice”. Europe’s governing body may claim this is a FIFA matter and they do not want to tread on its toes, but that simply doesn’t wash.
UEFA should be involved. Apart from Spain players telling the world there have been serious problems behind the scenes regarding the women’s team for years, similarly dismissive attitudes to female players exist in Europe and beyond. If the logistical problems countries such as Colombia, Nigeria and Jamaica experienced in the build up to the World Cup represent one example, the USWNT’s long fight for equal pay reflected the lack of appreciation for a national squad infinitely more successful than their male counterparts. It’s all linked into a deeply entrenched misogyny in the end.
In the experience of this writer, problems with sexism, racism and homophobia often arise in organisations lacking diversity at boardroom level. Unfortunately, football has a shortage of women and people of colour in positions of seniority. While fandom and language surrounding race and gender in and around the game is evolving, literature has shown a reluctance within the football world to acknowledge discrimination as a whole as systemic or as a symptom of a wider issue in football culture. What research suggests when it comes to any culture is that behaviour – positive or negative – does not occur in a vacuum. In social environments, established patterns act as models of behaviour.
Under the guise of diverse football teams, the sport is often considered to be colourblind or meritocratic suggesting that the success of players and leaders in the industry is purely based on merit. Studies contradict these perceptions and illustrate how the professional development or mobility of non-white or non-cis-male players and leaders is often undermined.
For example, the findings from the 2022 FIFPro Governing Body Index Report, supported by the Fare Network, revealed that over 80 percent of football governing and senior roles in Europe were predominantly held by White men, whereas under 4 percent of these positions were held by both non-White men and women. Those are staggering figures!
Thankfully FIFPro, the worldwide representative organisation for 65,000 professional footballers, have stood up when needed here, backing calls for action to be taken against Rubiales. A statement released last Wednesday read: “FIFPro fully endorses the statement of Spanish player union AFE in calling for immediate action to address the conduct of Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales at the FIFA Women’s World Cup final and is requesting an investigation of his actions under FIFA’s code of ethics.”
The statement added, “Uninitiated and uninvited physical approaches towards players are not appropriate or acceptable in any context, and especially not when they are put in a position of vulnerability by a person who holds a position of power over them in the workplace.”
Women’s football has won the hearts of the public to an unprecedented degree in the last few years, but evidently, popularity alone doesn’t ensure equal standing in the eyes of those who run the show. Rubiales’ mother’s bizarre demonstration over her son and the RFEF’s initial knee-jerk defence of him have nothing to do with justice, and everything to do with ego. In digging their heels in, he’s revealed the misogynist heart still beating beneath football’s skin.
Hopefully, with the pressure of hundreds of footballers and hundreds of thousands of fans we can kick out Rubiales, the systems, the people that seek to protect him and his ilk.
For more from Michael Tuohy, check out @MicTuathaigh or mictuohy.substack.com
