Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales’s mother on hunger strike over kiss row
Angeles Bejar, the mother of Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF), has started a hunger strike in protest against what she sees as unjust treatment of her son. The controversy stems from Rubiales, 46, kissing Spanish football star Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Angeles Bejar has locked herself within a church in Motril, where she has vowed to continue her indefinite hunger strike day and night.
Jenni Hermoso, 33, has said that the kiss during the World Cup celebrations, caught on camera, in Sydney on August 20th was not consensual.
Rubiales has faced widespread criticism.
Despite expressing his intention not to step down, he was subsequently suspended by FIFA.
The town of Motril, where Rubiales was raised, has become a gathering place for Spanish media. Angeles Bejar told the Spanish news agency EFE that the “inhuman and bloody hunt that they are doing with my son is something he does not deserve”.
Spain’s Sports Tribunal (TAD) has received a government request to suspend Rubiales, and this request is set to be deliberated during a TAD meeting scheduled for Monday. The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has also called for an urgent meeting with regional federations on the same day to assess the current situation.
Following Rubiales’ suspension, FIFA issued directives prohibiting him, along with RFEF officials and employees, from attempting to contact Jenni Hermoso. Earlier on the same day, the RFEF had threatened Hermoso with legal action.
Timeline of the kiss scandal
Spain beat England 1-0 in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final to be crowned World champions for the first time in their women’s football history. But the achievement was quickly overshadowed by the behaviour of the Spanish FA president.
- 20 August – Following Spain’s win, Luis Rubiales kisses Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso on the lips. She is later heard on a livestream reacting to the kiss, saying she “did not enjoy it.”
- 21 August – Rubiales issues an apology saying he is “sorry for those who were offended” after being fiercely criticised by other footballers, the media and even by the Spanish prime minister, some of whom called on him to step down.
- 24 August – Fifa opens disciplinary proceedings to examine Rubiales’ actions.
- 25 August – Rubiales insists at a RFEF emergency meeting that he will not resign, and calls the kiss “consensual”.
- 25 August – The Spanish government says it is beginning legal proceedings seeking to suspend Rubiales, with the Spanish secretary of sport saying he “wants this to be Spanish football’s MeToo moment”.
- 25 August – Hermoso releases a statement rebuffing Rubiales’ claims, saying that “at no time… was his kiss ever consensual”.
- 25 August – 81 Spanish players – including all 23 players who went to the Women’s World Cup – announce they will not play for Spain’s women’s team until Rubiales is removed from his position.
- 26 August – The Spanish football federation says it will take legal action over “each falsehood that is spread”.
- 26 August – Fifa announces it is provisionally suspending Rubiales pending the outcome of its disciplinary proceedings.
- 26 August – Head coach Jorge Vilda criticises Rubiales while his entire coaching staff resigns in protest against the federation president.
- 27 August – Federation’s delegate for sexual violence protocol confirms an internal investigation into events is underway.
- 28 August – Rubiales’ mother goes on hunger strike in a church in his hometown of Motril.