2023-08-23 20:03:02
Futpro, the union that represents Jenni Hermoso, issued a statement this Wednesday afternoon that can be interpreted almost as a checkmate against Luis Rubiales. “Following the events that occurred during the FIFA World Cup final involving the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar, our affiliate, Jennifer Hermoso, wants to state the following: ‘My Futpro union, in coordination with my agency TMJ are in charge of defending my interests and being the interlocutors on this matter'”, the Spanish international pointed out in a press release in which she comes to claim the head of the top federation leader by demanding that acts such as the one by their superior they do not go “unpunished”.
«From Futpro we express our firm and resounding condemnation of behaviors that violate the dignity of women. From our association we were able to the Royal Spanish Football Federation to implement the necessary protocols, ensure the rights of our players and adopt exemplary measures. It is essential that our team, the current world champion, is always represented by figures who project values of equality and respect in all areas. It is necessary to continue advancing in the fight for equality, a fight that our players have led with determination, leading us to the position in which we find ourselves today”, stresses the union.
“We also call on the Higher Sports Council so that, within its powers, it actively supports and promotes prevention and intervention in the face of sexual harassment or abuse, machismo and sexism,” continues Futpro, which “rejects any attitude or conduct that violates the rights of soccer players.” “From the union we are working so that acts like the ones we have seen never go unpunished, they are sanctioned and the pertinent measures are adopted to protect the soccer players from actions that we believe are unacceptable,” he concludes.
Amanda Gutiérrez, president of Futpro, will meet on Monday, August 28, with the second vice president and acting Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolana Díaz, to discuss the situation and “continue jointly addressing actions that guarantee that, events such as those occurred” in the final of the women’s World Cup “are duly sanctioned.”
Almost in parallel, Rubiales suffered another severe blow with the lawsuit that the Professional Women’s Soccer League has filed against the CSD and in which he requests his disqualification. The F League considers that Rubiales’ actions constitute “very serious infractions according to the Sports Law”, alluding not only to Rubiales’ kiss to Hermoso, but also Rubiales’ behavior in the authorities’ box at the Sydney stadium, when he grabbed the genitals next to Queen Letizia and Infanta Sofía to celebrate the triumph of Spain, or the statements of “assholes, assholes and scoundrels” with which he reprimanded his critics in the media.
It was the corollary of a bitter birthday for Rubiales, celebrated precisely on August 23. The scandal over the unfortunate kiss on the mouth of Jenni Hermoso caused the president of the FEF, who is piling up requests for resignation, to suffer one of the most difficult days in his five years as head honcho of Spanish football. The siege is tightening and has shaken the political scene in a good way, with the acting President of the Government himself at the head, with whom until not long ago he had a fluid relationship.
Pedro Sánchez cannot dismiss him directly, but the Executive is analyzing the feasibility of transferring to the Administrative Court of Sports (TAD), the highest institutional authority in sports matters, a reasoned brief urging him to open a disciplinary file. If that happened, and the TAD initiates a file, the Higher Sports Council (CSD) would immediately convene its board of directors to order the provisional suspension of the person who earned the nickname Pundonor during his time as a Levante player, as he did with Ángel María Villar -who was president between 1988 and 2017- in December of that last year.
A crime covered by the law
The canary, raised in Motril (Granada), could be disqualified between 2 and 15 years for his improper conduct, according to article 104 and 108 of the new Sports Law, in which the act of kissing by force, as he did in the celebration of Spain’s victory in the Women’s Soccer World Cup, it is described as “unacceptable conduct that will entail immediate consequences.”
An action that is part of point 5 of the norm and in which “situations, attitudes and behaviors related to sexual violence” are discussed, and an act that fully touches gender equality, one of the flags of a Coalition government that is at the forefront of the defense and protection of women.
Accumulate several complaints
The ball is getting bigger and bigger, and to the public reproach, to the declarations of several jurists that what he did constitutes a crime of sexual assault, and to the blush caused by the international press, a series of complaints is added: a of Sumar before the Superior Council of Sports, another of the affiliate of the federation Miguel Ángel Galán, scourge of the president for years, and that of Estrada Fernández, former referee of the First Division before the Federation.
The CSD has more pressure than ever to fully enter into this matter after the wave of criticism against Rubiales, who is in the wire despite the fact that he has always known how to handle conflicts well. The man comfortable in fires, who knew how to avoid the controversy for how he made his annual payroll increase five times, the expense of corporate cards for the party in a chalet in Salobreña with several girls, the housing aid for the purchase of an attic of luxury in Madrid, or the leaked audios in the mess of the Arabian Super Cup, could have the days numbered after his macho gesture against the top scorer in the history of Barcelona and La Roja.
The controversy leaves his future in a mystery that will continue for a few more days. The leader summoned the main governing body of Spanish football for Friday and will seek the support of the territorial federations to calm things down in an Extraordinary General Assembly. The FEF assured in a statement that after “the events that occurred” in the final “the internal proceedings of the federation regarding integrity issues are open, as well as the rest of the applicable protocols.”
Everything indicates that Rubiales will not resign, but he will give explanations. From what happened with the soccer player and from all her efforts to make women’s soccer grow (professionalization of the Women’s League, international successes, increase in licenses and the multiplication of the budget allocated to this sport). In addition, she will try to have the international support of a UEFA representative. The Government will be attentive to the appointment
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