Luis Rubiales, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President, has issued an apology for his actions after Spain won the Women’s World Cup over England on Sunday. He said he “made a mistake” by kissing Spain star player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips after she received her gold medal. Rubiales took heat for the incident as politicians and journalists said his actions were “unacceptable” and “simply disgusting,” per CNN.
“There’s an event, which I have to regret, which is everything that happened between the player and I, with a magnificent relationship between the two of us, the same as with the others,” Rubiales said. “And well, I surely made a mistake, I have to recognize that. In a moment of elation, without any intention of bad faith, well, what happened happened – I think in a very spontaneous way. I repeat, there was no bad faith between either of the two of us. Here, we didn’t understand it because we saw something natural, normal and in no way, I repeat, with bad faith. But outside of the bubble, it looks like it has turned into a storm and so, if there are people who have felt offended, I have to say I’m sorry.”
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A video shows Rubiales embracing Hermoso before putting both hands on her head and kissing her. After the kiss, Hermoso said on Instagram Live, “Hey, I didn’t like it, eh.” She then spoke to reporters about the kiss and said, “But what am I supposed to do?”
Rubilaes was asked about the kiss by Radio Marca and said, “The kiss with Jenni? There are idiots all over. When two people have a moment of affection without any importance, we can’t listen to idiocy. We’re champions and I stay with that.”
On Monday, the Spanish political party SUMAR asked for Rubiales to resign. Spain’s Minister of Culture and Sports Miquel Iceta told RTVE that, “I think it’s unacceptable to kiss a player on the lips to congratulate her. And as far as I’ve seen … I think it has to be said. We all deserve respect. “I think, first of all, what he has to do is give an explanation and show his reasoning. I think that’s the logical and rational thing.” Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time in team history. The first time Spain qualified for the World Cup was in 2015.
