Carvajal refuses to back Hermoso when asked to weigh in on 'kiss-gate' scandal
Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal refused to back World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso when questioned about the nonconsensual kiss given to the player by suspended RFEF president Luis Rubiales, saying that it was not for him to say whether Hermoso was a victim of sexual assault.
Rubiales has not yet resigned from Spanish football's governing body but has been handed a three-month ban from the sport by FIFA, with Mail Sport revealing that the organisation will be pushing for a 15-year ban for the official.
A statement from the federation - now helmed by interim boss Pedro Rocha - dubbed his behaviour at the Women's World Cup final 'totally unacceptable' and at the start of the international break, Spain's men's football team shared their own statement on Rubiales' conduct.
In a missive that Carvajal put his name too, the side stated that Rubiales had 'not lived up to the institution he represents'.
But the 31-year-old was more reticent on the subject of Hermoso herself when questioned by reporters ahead of Spain's 2024 Euro qualifying tie against Georgia on Friday, urging focus back onto the upcoming match and keen to 'sidestep' additional questions.
'We jointly issued the statement to make it clear from the first moment, and focus purely on sports in the Georgia game', the defender told Onda Cero. 'We all prepared the statement in which we were all comfortable and good, in accordance with what happened.
'What we reject is what I say, those inopportune gestures of the president. It's a shame that the world title (is) diminished or overlaps because it is a very important feat for our football. It has not been good for the image of Spanish sport.'
When questioned on whether he would be comfortable with Rubiales kissing him without
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