With Luis Rubiales finally out, Spanish football ready to leave embarrassing chapter behind
Spanish soccer is ready to move forward, three weeks after its women’s team won the Women’s World Cup but had its celebrations marred by a kiss that ignited a crisis.
Luis Rubiales, the Spanish soccer federation president who kissed a player on the lips without her consent during the trophy ceremony in Australia last month, resigned late Sunday following weeks of relentless pressure from inside the sport and Spanish society in general.
The decision, which many in the country had been hoping to see much earlier, was expected to help Spanish soccer start overcoming one of its most embarrassing chapters. It should also clear the way for Spain to get back on track with its bid to host the men’s World Cup in 2030 along with Portugal, Morocco and possibly Ukraine.
“It’s over,” Irene Montero, the acting minister of equality in Spain, wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Rubiales had been widely criticized after he kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony following Spain’s 1-0 win over England in the Women’s World Cup final on Aug. 20 in Sydney. Hermoso said the kiss was without her consent.
Rubiales had been expected to resign at an emergency general meeting of the federation shortly after the World Cup final, but instead said he was victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.” His defiant stand did not make the problem go away.
“The feminist country is advancing faster and faster,” Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s acting Deputy Prime Minister, wrote on X after Rubiales made his resignation public. “The transformation and improvement of our lives is inevitable. We are with you, Jenni, and with all women.” Rubiales had been without public supporters other than his mother, who held a
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