Spain’s kiss scandal should be ‘turning point’ for end to sexism in sports, UN says

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - The UN has joined the conversation around Spanish football’s kiss scandal, with the bloc’s rights chief saying on Tuesday that this should be “a turning point” to “end abuse and sexism in sports.”

“Women in sports continue to face sexual harassment and abuse – every one of us has the responsibility to call out and challenge such abuse. We join Spain’s Jenni Hermoso,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a social media post, referring to the female player who was kissed by Luis Rubiales, the suspended head of Spain’s football federation.

On Monday evening, hundreds of her supporters filled a major square in Madrid, using the slogan “Se Acabo” or “It’s Over” to call for an end to Rubiales’ leadership, toxic culture in Spanish football, and sexism across society.

During the protest, Spain’s football federation was meeting to decide what to do after FIFA suspended Rubiales for at least 90 days.

On Friday, Hermoso posted a statement saying: “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out-of-place act without any consent on my part.” She also said Rubiales and the federation pressured her to say she agreed to the kiss.

Just days after many of its members gave a standing ovation to Rubiales’ tirade against his enemies, “false feminists,” his insistence that Hermoso consented to the kiss and refusal to quit, the federation released a unanimous statement calling for his resignation.

The statement called for “a new phase” for the federation to be led by Rubiales’ right-hand man Pedro Rocha. The federation did not address the fate of women’s coach Jorge Vilda, whose staff resigned on Saturday and who the women’s team says needs to go. The federation also could have voted to oust Rubiales, but did not go that far.

Rubiales has not been heard from since his bombshell speech on Friday, where he shouted “I will not quit!” five times in a row.

And as her son loses almost all of his allies, Rubiales’ mother, Angeles Bejar, remains locked in a church on a hunger strike. On Monday, she told the Spanish news agency Efe that her son is a victim of a witch hunt and “incapable” of hurting anyone and that she will not eat until he gets justice.

Meanwhile, the Spanish government is trying to sanction Rubiales, ensure that he leaves his post permanently and even restructure the Spanish football federation to correct its gender imbalance.