What’s in a kiss? More perhaps than just a moment of bliss. It was really rather stupid of Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish football association, to grip the women’s team captain Jenni Hermoso, as if she herself were the World Cup trophy, and plant a smacker full on her lips in the medal ceremony following the team’s victory over England. But he can hardly have expected the Spanish inquisition that has followed.
Rubiales’ defence is undermined not only be Hermoso’s outright rejection but by his own description of the kiss as ‘spontaneous’
Rubiales’ moment of giddy Latin exuberance/hateful misogyny (depending on your take) has completely overshadowed his country’s triumph in the Women’s World Cup and has now led to his suspension by Fifa. Rubiales can take no part in football related activity for an ‘initial’ period of 90 days. For their part, the Spanish Football Federation has said it will take legal action over Jenni Hermosa for lying about the incident. What a mess.
On the kiss, things look grave for Rubiales. He has said it was consensual, but this was emphatically denied by Hermoso. Irene Montero, the Spanish equalities minister described it as an act of ‘sexual violence’ and tweeted that: ‘Our society is outraged by this kiss that happened without consent and with the sexist attitude of Luis Rubiales and all the people that applauded him on his response.’ Hermosa has received support from around the world, including a ‘we stand by you’ message from the Lionesses. The veteran US player Megan Rapinoe, inevitably, weighed in by claiming the incident revealed a ‘deep level of misogyny and sexism’ at the Spanish FA.
Rubiales’ defence – that he asked for and was given permission for ‘a little peck’ – is undermined not only be Hermoso’s outright rejection (‘I want to make it clear that at no time did the conversation to which Mr. Rubiales refers take place’) but by his own description of the kiss as ‘spontaneous’. And his grudging apology and defiant ‘No voy a dimitir’ (I will not resign) stance in his address to the football federation looks crass. It inflamed the controversy when a humble and sincere bowed headed apology might have drawn much of the sting.
On the question of if Hermoso lifted Rubiales up, the subject of the putative Spanish FA lawsuit against Hermoso, things seem more confused. Rubiales said Hermoso raised him off the ground and photos released by the Spanish FA do seem to show that appearing to happen, but again Hermosa flatly denies she ever intended such a thing. The Spanish FA has said it has reached out to Hermoso on multiple occasions but received no response.
What to make of it all? Few would dispute that Rubiales’ kiss was inappropriate, even lecherous, and it’s hard to summon up huge amounts of sympathy for the excitable football official given that he apparently grabbed his crotch in the presence of the Spanish Queen Letitia and her 16-year-old-daughter. There is also a picture of him carrying Athenea del Castillo Beivide over his shoulder looking a bit like a Viking taking a conquest back to his longboat to ravish. He does look and sound like a bit of a creep.
And yet, the speed and degree of vituperation levelled at Rubiales, the zeal with which his head was demanded, and the declared unanimity of the response feels off somehow – especially when there does still seem to be some doubt about what exactly happened. Quite how Irene Montero can be so certain that the whole of Spanish society agrees with her on the issue is not clear, unless what she really meant was that the whole of Spanish society agrees except for those that don’t, and they don’t matter and won’t be listened to anyway.
Even suggesting that the Rubiales affair, whatever you think of the man, is overblown and more than a little silly, feels almost impossible now. Condemning Rubiales out of hand, whether he deserves it or not, feels a bit like the ‘correct’ opinion which everyone is in a rush to register before being accused of wrong-think.
So where does the truth lie? Litigating the feelings and intentions of individuals in moments of passion is always excruciating difficult and perhaps sometimes impossible. What can we really tell from the video of Rubiales kissing Hermosa? He looks, as he said, ‘euphoric’ but also completely out of control. Perhaps a man like that shouldn’t be involved in women’s football or allowed anywhere near the players. And the tenor of his response, which has undoubtedly compounded his difficulties, was spectacularly ill-judged.
But, as far as anyone knows, Rubiales has no prior record as a sexual predator. And he did, more or less, apologise. Should he be sacked and cast into the abyss of eternal disgrace for the rest of his days? Perhaps, but a more important question might be, is anyone allowed to argue that he shouldn’t be?
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