Women’s World Cup winner Jennifer Hermoso intends to pursue action against the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation who kissed her following Sunday’s final.
Luis Rubiales was part of the presentation party at Sydney’s Stadium Australia after Spain beat England 1-0 to become world champions.
While on a podium, Rubiales, 45, grabbed Hermoso, 33, by her head with both of his hands and kissed her on the lips.
He was heavily criticized for his actions, with Irene Montero, Spain’s government minister for equality, describing the kiss as “a form of sexual violence women suffer on a daily basis”.
Rubiales apologized on Monday but only after telling Spanish broadcaster COPE a day earlier that anyone who saw the incident as anything other than “a kiss between two friends celebrating something” was “idiots and stupid people”.
Shortly after Sunday’s game, Hermoso had said of the kiss in an Instagram Live broadcast that she “didn’t like it.”
But a statement issued by the Royal Spanish Football Federation later quoted Hermoso as saying: “It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings.”
It is now believed that these words attributed to Hermoso did not come from her directly.
On Wednesday, Hermoso issued a new statement via FUTPRO.
It read: “My union, FUTPRO, in coordination with my agency, TMJ, are taking care of defending my interests and being the interlocutors on this matter.”
Hermoso issued a short statement on Wednesday
FUTPRO described the behavior of Rubiales as “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.”
The union added: “We ask the RFEF to implement the necessary protocols and to ensure the rights of our players and adopt exemplary measures.
“It is essential that our national team is represented by figures that project its values of equality and respect in all areas.
“It is necessary to continue advancing in the fight for equality, a fight that our female players have led with determination, bringing us to the position we are in today.”
