Spanish Soccer Chief Refuses to Resign Over World Cup Kiss

The head of the Spanish soccer federation, underneath hearth after he grabbed and kissed a member of the profitable group totally on the lips at a Women’s World Cup medals ceremony final weekend in Australia, insisted on Friday that he wouldn’t step apart, saying he was the sufferer of “social assassination.”

News reviews had mentioned that the federation chief, Luis Rubiales, would hand in his discover as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation at midday native time after 5 years on the helm, however he as an alternative took a defiant stand.

“I will not resign,” he mentioned, including that “I will fight this to the end” and accusing his critics of “false feminism.”

After the World Cup last in Sydney on Sunday, Mr. Rubiales was captured on video kissing Jennifer Hermoso, a Spanish ahead, and in a post-match video, she was seen apparently making her distaste of the kissing incident identified, saying, “Hey, but I didn’t like that!”

Mr. Rubiales, who had provided a tepid apology on Monday because the outrage started to develop, provided a drastically totally different account on Friday. Ms. Hermoso, he mentioned, lifted him off his ft and “moved me close to her body.”

Ms. Hermoso didn’t reply instantly to the remarks from Mr. Rubiales. Iker Casillas, a retired goalkeeper who performed for the lads’s nationwide group, mentioned in a publish on social media instantly after Mr. Rubiales spoke that his feedback “make you cringe.”

It was, he mentioned, a “free, mutual and consensual kiss,” and he added that he would take Yolanda Diaz and different distinguished Spanish politicians to court docket after they known as for his resignation. Ms. Diaz responded that “Mr. Rubiales still doesn’t know what he’s done.”

Initially, as video footage of the encounter unfold on social media and plenty of Spaniards reacted with disgust, accusing him of perpetuating an extended legacy of sexism within the sport, Mr. Rubiales tried varied approaches to defuse the controversy.

His first response, earlier than leaving Australia, was to stay adamant that he had completed nothing flawed. He mentioned of his critics, “We shouldn’t pay attention to idiots and stupid people.”

This solely fueled additional condemnation of his habits in Spain, with the minister of tradition and sport demanding a proof from him and stating that it was unacceptable to congratulate soccer gamers by kissing them on the lips.

Other distinguished politicians demanded Mr. Rubiales’s resignation, with the minister of equality accusing him of sexual violence.

By the time Mr. Rubiales had returned to Spain, it appeared clear that he was in hassle.

Mr. Rubiales then mentioned in a video broadcast by the federation on Monday afternoon, “I have to apologize,” he mentioned. “Probably I made a mistake.”

But Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, mentioned that Mr. Rubiales’s habits was “unacceptable” and that his apology was “not enough.” Speculation continued to develop that the soccer chief was on skinny ice.

A press release launched by the soccer federation in Ms. Hermoso’s identify has additionally come underneath scrutiny. She was quoted as saying of the soccer chief’s actions, “It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the huge joy of winning a World Cup.”

But on Wednesday, Ms. Hermoso demanded via her union that “measures” be taken in opposition to Mr. Rubiales. And on Thursday, after receiving 4 complaints, Spain’s National Sports Council threatened to disqualify him from public workplace for violating the nation’s sports activities legislation on sexual violence if the federation didn’t hearth him first.

FIFA, the game’s international governing physique, additionally opened disciplinary proceedings in opposition to Mr. Rubiales.

Support from the presidents of Spain’s regional soccer federations, which had been waning, plummeted.

“It’s not the conduct of a president of a federation,” mentioned the coach of Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti.