Spain wants Rubiales kiss row to be 'MeToo moment'

Spain's authorities has called for the contention implicit the behaviour of the caput of the shot relation to go football's "Me Too moment".

Luis Rubiales said helium would not resign implicit kissing Spain striker Jenni Hermoso connected the lips aft their triumph successful the Women's World Cup final.

He was besides criticised for grabbing his crotch erstwhile celebrating the win, lasting adjacent to Spain's Queen Letizia.

The enactment has stirred up long-standing tensions successful Spain implicit women's rights.

It is the latest lightning-rod incidental successful battles implicit important societal and governmental changes wrong the country, among them caller changes to the instrumentality to amended sex parity and much strictly specify intersexual consent.

Government ministers were among those to telephone for enactment to beryllium taken against Mr Rubiales, who has been president of the federation since 2018.

"This should beryllium the MeToo infinitesimal for Spanish football," said Víctor Francos, Secretary of State for Sport.

On Thursday, shot satellite governing assemblage Fifa announced it was opening disciplinary proceedings against him, appearing to marque his presumption untenable.

He was wide expected to resign connected Friday. Instead, astatine an bonzer gathering of the shot association, Mr Rubiales claimed helium was the unfortunate of a witch-hunt and insisted helium would not measurement down.

"I volition not resign, I volition not resign, I volition not resign," helium told those contiguous arsenic helium defended the arguable kiss.

"It was a spontaneous kiss, communal and euphoric," helium said. "And, supra all, consensual."

Mr Rubiales went further, accusing his critics of utilizing "false feminism" to persecute him and claimed helium was the unfortunate of "a societal assassination".

The authorities announced that it would instrumentality enactment to region Mr Rubiales from bureau and would instrumentality him to a tribunal.

"At nary clip did I consent to the kiss," the Spanish striker said. "I don't tolerate my words being questioned."

Dozens of members of the women's nationalist squad said connected Friday they would not play immoderate matches for the state until Mr Rubiales has been removed from his job.

Several teammates expressed their enactment for Ms Hermoso, with two-time Ballon D'Or victor Alexia Putellas posting connected societal media web X: "This is unacceptable. It's over. With you, friend."

The Rubiales matter appears to provender into broader societal changes successful Spanish nine implicit caller years, which person included authorities promoting intersexual consent and sex parity.

"This is simply a captious infinitesimal successful this country, radical are moving towards much sex equality," said Carolina García, a sports writer astatine Telemadrid tv network.

"The Spain of my gramps was precise antithetic to now, but the important happening is that we support moving forward. That's what we request to execute arsenic a society."

Feminism has often go a governmental battleground, pitting the left-wing conjugation authorities of Pedro Sánchez against the opposition, peculiarly the far-right Vox.

Among the astir vocal critics of Mr Rubiales has been Irene Montero, curate of equality and the astir disposable promoter of the government's feminist agenda. She was besides the driving unit down the "Only yes means yes" law, which sought to clamp down connected non-consensual intersexual relations.

That arguable authorities was driven successful large portion by the pack rape of a young pistillate successful Pamplona during the San Fermines festival successful 2016, successful a lawsuit which became known arsenic "The Wolfpack". The 5 men liable were lone initially recovered blameworthy of intersexual abuse, alternatively than rape (before their sentences were revised up).

The societal backlash that followed the archetypal verdict not lone contributed to a alteration successful the law, but it besides appeared to displacement attitudes successful Spain to consent successful intersexual relations.

Beyond the gender-related backlash against Mr Rubiales, determination is besides choler successful Spain that this occurrence has threatened to overshadow the accomplishment of the Spanish women's squad successful winning its archetypal World Cup.

"We should person spent the past 5 days talking astir our [women's team]!" Iker Casillas, skipper of the men's squad that won the 2010 World Cup, wrote connected societal web X.

"Of the happiness they gave america all!"