Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales has sparked even more outrage in the Spain camp as their Women’s World Cup winners make renewed calls for him to resign after his refusal to walk away from his position over the Jenni Hermoso kissing scandal.
‘I am not going to resign,’ he shouted four times in a charged speech following an emergency meeting of federation officials, vowing ‘I will fight until the end.’
Spain women His refusal to resign was swiftly condemned by Spanish men’s and women’s players on Twitter, with one, men’s defender Borja Iglesias – quitting the national team in protest at Rubiales remaining at the helm. Alexis Putellas, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, and World Cup-winning team-mates Cata Coll, Aitana Bonmati, and Irene Paredes have all spoken out publicly in defence of Jenni Hermoso, the player kissed on the mouth by Rubiales at the World Cup final trophy presentation.
Rubiales has been under pressure to resign for kissing Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup final and grabbing his crotch near the Spanish queen and her 16-year-old daughter.
Today, he refused to quit in a ranted speech where he blamed ‘false feminism’ for the perceived witch-hunt against him.
Cata Coll, who was between the sticks for Spain in the final, wrote: ‘What a pity it gives me that 23 soccer players are not the protagonists… It’s over! With you to death Jenni Hermoso’.
Their fellow Spanish player, Patricia Guijarro, who was one of 15 players to voice opposition to head coach Jorge Vilda last year and was not picked for the World Cup, tweeted: ‘It’s over. With you @jennihermoso.
Unfortunate to reach this point to believe that the complaints from months ago were real.’
Barcelona and Norway player Caroline Hansen said: ‘@jennihermoso with you! This is all lies. We all see what really happened.
Swiss star and Barcelona player Ana-Maria Crnogorčević took a more vehement approach: ‘I’m freaking out. It’s over. F* this bullst, fk all this fking lies. This is insane… With you Jenni always.’
Men’s national team striker Borja Iglesias has quit playing for his country in protest while Rubiales remains in post.
He tweeted: ‘Wearing the Spanish National Team shirt is one of the greatest things that has happened to me in my career. I don’t know if at some point I will be an option again, but I have made the decision not to return to the National Team until things change and this type of act does not go unpunished.’
Rubiales blamed ‘false feminism’ for a ‘social murder’ against him in a stunning speech on Friday August 25.
