– ¡A la puta calle!
My Spanish friend’s mother, who is of retirement age, reacts to the soccer boss By Luis Rubiales to the kiss-off with a straightforward comment, which means “Rubiales out” in censored language.
My friend’s mother is known as a kind and calm person who rarely reacts with spontaneous rage to hot topics.
The position declared loudly at the coffee table was exceptional for him. At the same time, she put into words the frustration that countless Spanish women have felt for years.
The events that sparked the storm
Just over a week ago, the Spanish women’s national football team won the first world championship in its history. After the final, however, the biggest headlines haven’t been the scorers Olga Carmona or selected as the best player of the World Cup tournament Fence Bonmatí.
The media space has been taken by the president of the country’s football association, Rubiales, who grabbed his crotch after the final was decided and kissed the star player at the award ceremony Jennifer Hermosoa to the mouth.
The case of Rubiales has become a major scandal in Spain, and the Prime Minister has taken a stand Perdo Sánchez led by political decision-makers as well as Iker Casillas and Andrés Iniesta like football icons. Their message has been clear: Rubiales’ actions are unacceptable.
Rubiales himself disagrees. On Friday, he announced, against all expectations, that he would continue as chairman and sue his critics. The futispomo felt that he was the victim of a car chase.
There are still plenty of twists and turns in the case that has received worldwide attention, but at its core, it is about much more than Rubiales or even football. To understand the resulting national fury, one has to go back decades to the most painful time in Spain’s history.
From the dark years to the present day
My friend’s mother mentioned at the beginning was a dictator in her youth Francisco Franco in the era (1939–1975).
During Franco’s time, women were seen above all as stay-at-home mothers and wives. They needed their husband’s permission for things like spending money, getting a job or traveling abroad.
A big step has been taken from the dark years for the better, but the Spanish world is still in many ways a men’s playing field. There are still areas in the divided country where, for example, girls’ schooling is anything but self-evident.
In recent years, violence against women has been a big topic of conversation. Published in 2019 according to extensive research 13.7 percent of Spanish women over the age of 16, or more than 2.8 million women, had been subjected to sexual violence during their lifetime.
– In 2018, millions of Spanish women had enough and joined the general strike. Since then, our country has lived through a great upheaval. The people’s movement that arose from the Rubiales case is proof that there is no longer a desire to sweep things under the rug, equality researcher and consultant Ana Fernández de Vega tells .
In the opinion of many Spaniards, football circles have been the last bastions of male power in a changing society. There has been a familiar idea from the past that men can do what they want.
The management term of Luis Rubiales, which started in 2018, has strengthened this image. He has been accused, among other things, of using the union’s money to pay for his personal trip to New York and the orgies held in Salobreña. Last year, information about Rubiales and Gerard Piqué about the pending agreement to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Rubiales has also been suspected of secretly recording Prime Minister Sánchez and spying on journalists. He has survived all this without losing his grip on the handle of power.
– Rubiales believes he is immune to everything. He’s used to getting his way and keeping a grip on influential people who owe him a favor, journalist specializing in women’s football Begoña Villarrubia Mundo Deportivo reports.
When Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips in a drunken state of victory, the camel’s back broke. According to Hermoso, the act was not consensual. When Rubiales claimed that Hermoso was lying and said that the uproar was caused by “false feminists”, the popular movement against the football boss grew to completely new dimensions.
– It’s not even about a kiss or what he meant by it. It’s about behavior that is transmitted to countless people and whether a man can just grab a woman like that and kiss her, says Ana Fernández de Vega.
The experienced stars of the Spanish women’s national team have traveled a rocky road to becoming world champions.
Chosen as the best player in the world Alexia Putellas29, has said that at the beginning of his career, he could not have imagined that he would one day play in the same stadium as the boys’ and men’s teams.
Top defender Irene Paredes, 32, was discriminated against at school because she was the only girl who played soccer. Jennifer Hermoso, 33, has spoken about how difficult it was to build a football career without support.
The WC gold was a huge show of strength for these players, but at a historic moment the spotlight turned to Rubiales. Andrés Iniesta, who decided the men’s World Cup final in 2010, was one of them who was frustrated by what happened.
– I can’t even imagine how the players feel when they see that the center of attention is not the tournament that went amazingly or the great game that they presented to us. It’s a shame that a great story has been tarnished, Iniesta wrote on social media.
The Spanish are known as a proud nation that really cares what kind of image it conveys to the outside world.
Rubiales’ actions have been criticized by international football stars and even representatives of the UN. It has made many politicians and sports bosses who supported Rubiales now turn their backs.
Rubiales has reached a dead end.
So far, he has been suspended for 90 days by the International Football Association Fifa, but according to rumors, the ban may well extend to several more years. Spanish prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into the events after the final and urged Hermoso to consider filing charges.
With the exception of the national football team’s coaching group, the head coach Jorge Vilda has left his position, and the national team players who won the World Cup gold have refused to play under the current management.
It seems more and more clear that the only support for the influential football manager is his inner circle and the mother who is locked in the church in the city of Motril, threatening her son’s critics with a hunger strike.