No one had thought that Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup Final over England a week ago would not only land Spain’s Football Federation in a confrontation with its football players but would also pit it inadvertently against the tag of being sexist for an unanticipated scene during the winning ceremony of the Women’s World Cup. The controversial scene has put the football world in the limelight for dealing with an elephant in the room, sexism.
Last week, Spain beat England 1-0 to win the ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In the official post-match ceremony, Spain’s Football Federation President Luis Rubiales in a celebratory mode hugged Spain’s star player Jennifer Hermoso and planted a kiss on her lips. After the victory celebrations, Jennifer Hermoso posted on social media that the kiss on the part of the president was non-consensual, and it made her feel uncomfortable. She posted, “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent on my part.”
In reply to the post posted on social media by Jennifer Hermoso, the Spanish Football Federation defended Federation President Luis Rubiales, stating that the kiss was with mutual consent, and termed the whole backlash coming in the wake of the post as an “unjust campaign” and “fake feminism”. The 46-year-old Federation President termed the kiss “mutual, euphoric and consensual.”
In the world of Football in general and Spain in particular, the whole episode garnered a huge backlash. The demand from all and sundry was that President Luis Rubiales should resign. However, the Spanish Football Federation initially seemed on the side of the president and turned a blind eye to the issue by either portraying that what happened was with mutual consent or calling the details of the whole episode a set of lies against which it warned it would take legal action. As the calls for resignation gained momentum, President Rubiales made an emphatic speech last Friday (August 25, 2023) at the federation’s Extraordinary General Assembly, declaring that he would not resign.
The federation tried to create a split among women soccer players who stood in solidarity with their fellow player, Jennifer Hermoso, by saying that they had an obligation to participate in matches if they were called for them; however, all the players have taken a collective stand and have demanded an action against President Rubiales. In some of the reports, Hermoso has been found saying that the federation has been pushing her through her family, friends, teammates, etc. to make a statement that could justify the president’s actions.
Football world governing body FIFA has provisionally suspended President Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities in the wake of protests across the globe in the soccer community for his resignation and has asked the Spanish Football Federation to start disciplinary proceedings against him. An internal inquiry has also been started. At this point, nothing can be said with certainty whether President Rubiales will stay or will be sacked; however, a lot of interesting takeaways can be taken from this incident of the sporting world.
First and foremost, although the sporting world is becoming gender inclusive; however, in this new reality gender gender-sensitive norms, though they may be there, have not taken root yet. Its reflection is President Rubiales intimately kissed Hermoso in a moment of joy without thinking for a second that she might feel uncomfortable with this unsolicited kiss in front of cameras broadcasting the event globally. This apathy on the part of someone who is leading sporting federation towards gender sensitivities is a wake-up call that a lot needs to be done for the entrenchment of gender-sensitive norms in the sporting world. The present episode which is unfolding in the soccer world should not be pushed under the carpet and should be dealt with squarely if the aim is to make the sporting world conducive for all sexes.
Secondly, since Hermoso declared the kiss non-consensual and resultantly disconcerting, football fans across Spain and the globe rallied around her and started a campaign for the resignation of President Rubiales. Tragically, the Spanish Football Federation instead of being neutral in its approach and extending support to its star player started to nullify her case by calling the kiss consensual, terming its details a set of lies, calling its support campaign an “unjust campaign” and a show of “fake feminism”, and pushing Hermoso to change her stance so that the president’s action could be justified. Implicitly, there is sexism breathing in the Spanish Football Federation. All along the unfolding of this case, the Spanish Football Federation remained averse to taking any action against its incumbent President Rubiales. Although the federation has started an inquiry against the president at the behest of FIFA the prospects of a transparent inquiry are slim.
It’s hoped that the case will be handled judiciously, and justice will prevail. If it turned out to be otherwise, the sexism in the sporting world especially that of Football may not stop women from playing Football at the national or international level but may keep the space open for compromises over gender-sensitive norms.
