The Spanish women’s national football team won the 2023 World Cup. But that’s barely being talked about or written about anymore. Still, in ten years, we’ll remember this World Cup. For the phenomenal sporting achievements, TV ratings, or the excitement? Yes, sure. But above all, for the kiss scandal, which threatens to overshadow everything else.
"I didn’t like it," said Spanish footballer Jennifer Hermoso after she was kissed on the lips against her will by Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales during the award ceremony following the World Cup final.
What followed was a wave of outrage throughout the media and society—like a Mexican wave sweeping through a stadium. Rightly so. Countless athletes around the world have criticised the act, including Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also commented, saying, “Just imagine Angela Merkel had kissed Philipp Lahm like that after the German men’s World Cup win.” She told the Tagesspiegel, “There would’ve been hell to pay—or rather, you can’t even imagine it. It’s simply unthinkable the other way around.”
This rhetorical device of role reversal is an age-old method used to highlight the inappropriate behaviour of men towards women. But why can’t some people grasp the problem without needing it flipped around?
Everyone expected Spain’s football president to step down after the kiss and the ensuing outrage. A Me-Too moment in football—surely no one would want that! Instead, Luis Rubiales delivered an angry speech at an extraordinary meeting of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). He spoke of defamation, "false feminism," and tried to portray himself as the victim of a "public lynching." The Spanish Federation even released footage they claimed showed Hermoso lifting Rubiales in celebration, which supposedly indicated her consent to the kiss. In his bizarre address, Rubiales repeatedly, almost obsessively, declared he would not resign—not once, not twice, but five times (at minute 3:05)—as if he couldn’t believe the absurdity of his own words. It was a farce, plain and simple.
FC Viktoria Berlin player Danya Barsalona, who has played in Spain’s Primera División for SD Lagunak and works as a journalist for Deutsche Welle, said that Rubiales had never taken the women’s players seriously, even before this incident. For a long time, Spanish players had been complaining about the federation’s inaction. What happened now, she says, is a slap in the face to the players and brings to light what’s happening in women’s football all over the world, not just in Spain.
In the meantime, FIFA has launched disciplinary proceedings and suspended Rubiales for 90 days. This remains the case despite a video posted online showing the Spanish players seemingly laughing off the kiss shortly after their victory. But what choice did they have at that moment?
Solidarity and Allyship! In protest against Rubiales’ behaviour, the 23 World Cup winners went on strike shortly after. A statement issued by the players’ union Futpro was signed by a total of 81 current and former Spanish players. “I want to make it clear that I never consented to the kiss,” Hermoso said via Futpro. “I did not try to approach the president, and I do not tolerate having my words questioned, or having things invented that I never said.” She has since taken legal action and filed a formal complaint against the suspended president.
Hermoso and the Spanish women’s team are also supported by male colleagues, including national player Borja Iglesias, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "I’ve decided not to play for the national team until things change, and actions like this no longer go unpunished." The scandal has already had some impact: Jorge Vilda, the controversial coach of the World Cup-winning Spanish team, was dismissed from his position last Tuesday.
Has everything been said and written on the matter, as some eye-rollers in heated comment sections claim? Is the media reaction exaggerated? Is the coverage overblown? NO. Anyone who says that has never had someone touch their chest or groin against their will has never had their right to bodily autonomy denied. Those who fail to see the importance of this debate lack an understanding of the everyday experiences of women.
Journalist Samira El Ouassil, in a column, called the forced kiss “a demonstration of what men in positions of power believe they can get away with.” She continued, “A powerful man in a very popular sport crosses a physical boundary in front of countless cameras, immediately after a woman athlete’s victory. It’s obvious, it’s wrong, it was unexpected, and it’s personalised with two actors. This has immense potential for identification, and yet some still find it too trivial to justify such widespread media attention because to them, it’s ‘just a kiss,’ and every additional discussion seems unnecessary.”
What’s clear is this: We’ll have to keep talking and writing about this until such forced kisses stop happening. What gives me hope are future generations who are growing up with these conversations and learning from them. The 15-year-old daughter of a friend summed up the kiss scandal pragmatically and accurately. She said something like: “It’s obvious that this isn’t okay. Why is this even being debated?”
The hope lies in the possibility that, as a society, we’ll eventually develop the ability to see things from others’ perspectives and have enough empathy to ensure that unwanted kisses—and worse—don’t need to be debated any longer. The hope is that our friends, wives, daughters, nieces, cousins, or granddaughters will never be kissed or touched against their will. Mic drop.
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