Team News

Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has apologised for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women’s World Cup.

Rubiales kissed the Spain forward during the presentation ceremony following the team’s 1-0 win over England in Sunday’s final.

“I didn’t like it,” Hermoso said on Instagram, but a statement released later on her behalf defended Rubiales.

On Monday, Rubiales said: “I was completely wrong, I have to admit it.”

He added: “It was without bad intention at a time with a lot of excitement. In the moment, we saw it as natural, but outside a commotion has formed.

“I have to apologise, learn from this, and understand that when you are president you have to be more careful.”

Rubiales had been criticised by some Spanish government ministers and come under fire on social media.

Spain’s equalities minster Irene Montero said: “It’s a form of sexual violence women suffer on a daily basis.”

Montero added that up to now it had been “invisible” and that it is something “we can’t normalise”.

“We should not assume kissing without consent is something ‘that happens’,” she said.

Spain’s sports minister Miquel Iceta told Spanish public radio it was “unacceptable” for Rubiales to kiss Hermoso, adding: “The first thing he has to do is to give explanations and make apologies, it is the logical and reasonable thing to do.”

In a statement released by the Spanish football federation, following the player’s initial comment about disliking the kiss, Hermoso said the moment was a “natural gesture of affection”.

“It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings,” said the 31-year-old, who is Spain’s all-time leading scorer.

Video footage circulated online after the match also showed Rubiales, who was sat in the VIP area of the stadium near Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Queen Letizia of Spain, grab his groin as he celebrated the final whistle.

Rubiales’ actions were heavily criticised on social media, with ‘dimision ya’ – ‘resign now’ in English – trending on X, formerly known as Twitter, in Spain.

Rubiales told Spanish broadcaster COPE it was “a kiss between two friends celebrating something” and those who saw it differently were “idiots and stupid people”.

“Let’s ignore them and enjoy the good things,” he added, before offering a different view on Monday.

Spanish newspaper El Pais ran the headline “Jenni didn’t like Rubiales’ kiss, neither did we”.

Spain won the World Cup despite controversy over coach Jorge Vilda, who survived a player revolt to keep his job.

The RFEF said in September 2022 that 15 players had submitted identical emails saying they would not play for Vilda unless “significant” concerns over their “emotional state” and “health” were addressed.

However, the RFEF continued to back Vilda and posted ‘VILDA IN’ on Spain’s official X account after their World Cup triumph.

European football’s governing body, UEFA, has banned Dinamo Zagreb fans from all away matches in European competition this season after a Greek fan was killed in violent clashes in Athens last month.

The decision comes hours after Zagreb were knocked out of the Champions League following a 2-2 draw in the second leg of a qualifier against AEK Athens in Greece on Saturday, which was postponed due to violence.

The match was scheduled to be played on August 8, but was postponed to August 19, following the death of 29-year-old Michalis Katasouris in violent clashes between fans near the AEK stadium.

Nearly 100 Croatian soccer fans were arrested in Athens on serious criminal charges, including murder and participation in a criminal organization. Dinamo fans had traveled to Athens, even though their club had been banned by UEFA from selling tickets to them for this match, which was considered high risk.

UEFA president Aleksandar Ceferin met Greek Prime Minister Kzriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Wednesday to discuss how to deal with violence among football fans.

UEFA said on Sunday 20 August that all Dinamo matches are now classified as “high risk and this was unfortunately confirmed by the extreme scale of the incidents” in Athens.

Dinamo has been ordered by UEFA to “create and implement a strategy to eradicate club-related violence, in cooperation with the political, security and football authorities in Croatia”.

Fans of the teams playing against Dinamo – starting with Sparta Prague on Thursday – can buy tickets for the matches in Zagreb.

“Dinamo and the public authorities must definitely take measures to guarantee the necessary security measures for visiting fans,” UEFA said.

Dinamo will face Spata Prague in two matches, the return leg on August 31 in Prague.

The winner of this match will advance to the group stage of the Europa League, the second category of European football. The loser goes into the groups of the Conference League, which means that Dinamo will play at least six more games – three at home and three away – from September to December.

Dinamo has a group of extreme right-wing fans, which calls itself the “Bad Blue Boys”.