Jolly Red Giant
Well-known member
- Jul 11, 2015
- 2,615
Let's be clear - Jenni Hermoso was assaulted by Luis Rubiales - and in my view it was a conscious act.
Over decades Spanish women's team have been treated with abuse by the RFEF and the head coaches. Ignacio Quereda, the guy before Vilda, was a recist, sexist, homophobic abuser of women who felt it was his right to walk into the players bedrooms unannounced. A strike by the squad forced Quereda's removal. Quereda was replaced by Jorge Vilda, whose father is a top bureaucrat in the RFEF. Vilda has little or no coaching experience, apart from with the women's underage teams and carried on the same authoritarian approach as Quereda, including, allegedly, the right to walk into bedrooms stuff.
Vilda's methods and lack of coaching ability have been constantly criticised since his appointment, including his inability to understand the nature and treatment of injuries - but more importantly, the Spanish players have criticised the RFEF for its treatment of the women's team and its impact on the physical and mental health - including the refusal of the RFEF to allow players with young children have contact with their children during tournaments, games and training camps.
In 2022 the 3 squad captains approached Vilda to discuss the concerns of the squad - these included two players who were involved in the strike that removed Quereda as coach in 2015 - Irene Paredes and Jenni Hermoso. When they made no headway with Vilda they went to Rubiales - who fully backed Vilda, leading to 15 of the players saying they did not want to be considered for selection until their issues were addressed. It is worth noting that Hermoso and Paredes along with veteran player and team captain Alexia Putellas (who was out with a long term injury) did not sign the email (Putellas did tweet support for the 15). This was to keep lines of communications open with the RFEF. The RFEF responded by calling Las15 'brats', 'extortioners' and 'capricious'. Over the following months the captains continued negotiate and secure a number of concessions, including the right of close family to be part of the camp. Ultimately 8 of Las 15 offered to return - the other 7 refused to play for Vilda - but only 3 - along with Hermoso, Paredes, and Putellas were selected.
Roll on to the presentation of the trophy - why did Rubiales pick Hermoso to assault instead of any of the other players. The RFEF bureaucracy has a legacy that goes back to the era of Franco's fascist dictatorship and has regularly been criticised for failing to act against racism, misogyny and homophobia. Hermoso, Paredes and Putellas are the only players in the squad who played a prominent role in all the disputes between the RFEF and the women's team over the past 10 years. However, while Paredes is Basque, and Putellas is from Catalunya, Hermoso is from Madrid (and her father played for Franco's team Atletico Madrid). From the perspective of 'the man in love with his balls' (title of an article by Ana Requena Aguilar in el Diario), Hermoso should have known her place - she was not from one of the regions but Castilian, from the heart of Spanish nationalism and a descendent of one of Franco's players. In my opinion Rubiales decided that Hermoso needed to be taught a lesson and a message needed to be sent to the rest of the squad. He thought he would get away with it in the euphoria of the WC victory.
It has now spectacularly blown up in his face - despite pressure from the RFEF on Hermoso and her family to comply with RFEF demands to support Rubiales, Hermoso has come out to say that the RFEF statement that the 'kiss' was consensual was a lie. The entire world cup squad have now gone on strike demanding the dismissal of Rubiales and Vilda. 89 current and former international players have publicly declared their support for Hermoso. The RFEF is now threatening to sue Hermoso for defamation and is threatening to sue the entire WC squad using a sports law that has its origins in the Franco dictatorship that it is illegal to refuse to represent Spain in international competition. Vilda - and the men's HC de la Fuente - clapped in support of Rubiales when he said that he wouldn't resign at the press conference on Friday (indeed all practically all them men present clapped as Rubiales attacked Hermoso). Both Vilda and de la Fuente have now come out and said that Rubiales behaviour was 'inappropriate'.
But the reaction is Spain has been swift - Xavi condemned Rubiales and gave 'unconditional support' to Hermoso - several male players have said they will not play for the Spainish team until Rubiales is sacked. Alexia Putellas tweet #SeAcabo (It's Over) has gone viral. At the Sevilla V Girona game the Sevilla players wore t-shirts with #SeAcabo - and the entire 30,000 attendance chanted in support of Hermoso. Before the game between Cadiz and Almeria the Cadiz players unfurled a banner stating 'Todas Somos Jenni' - we are all Jenni - to cheers from the 20,000 in attendance. Thousands of fans have turned up to games in Spain with home-made placards in support of Hermoso. Fans of Rayo Vallecano, the traditional left-wing club in Madrid, are planning a major protest in support of Jenni Hermoso in Madrid ahead of their game against Atletico Madrid tomorrow night.
Rubiales actions demonstrated the ingrained misogyny, racism and homophobia in the Spanish political and cultural establishment. The potential is that the opposition to Rubiales and the RFEF could grow like the 2018 protests against the failure to convict five men for the gang rape of a 14 year old girl (they were convicted of sexual abuse). Eventually Rubiales (and probably Vilda) will be forced out - but it is important that the momentum to force change at the top of the RFEF should not be lost and it should be carried over internationally to send a message that misogyny and assault will not be tolerated.
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Over decades Spanish women's team have been treated with abuse by the RFEF and the head coaches. Ignacio Quereda, the guy before Vilda, was a recist, sexist, homophobic abuser of women who felt it was his right to walk into the players bedrooms unannounced. A strike by the squad forced Quereda's removal. Quereda was replaced by Jorge Vilda, whose father is a top bureaucrat in the RFEF. Vilda has little or no coaching experience, apart from with the women's underage teams and carried on the same authoritarian approach as Quereda, including, allegedly, the right to walk into bedrooms stuff.
Vilda's methods and lack of coaching ability have been constantly criticised since his appointment, including his inability to understand the nature and treatment of injuries - but more importantly, the Spanish players have criticised the RFEF for its treatment of the women's team and its impact on the physical and mental health - including the refusal of the RFEF to allow players with young children have contact with their children during tournaments, games and training camps.
In 2022 the 3 squad captains approached Vilda to discuss the concerns of the squad - these included two players who were involved in the strike that removed Quereda as coach in 2015 - Irene Paredes and Jenni Hermoso. When they made no headway with Vilda they went to Rubiales - who fully backed Vilda, leading to 15 of the players saying they did not want to be considered for selection until their issues were addressed. It is worth noting that Hermoso and Paredes along with veteran player and team captain Alexia Putellas (who was out with a long term injury) did not sign the email (Putellas did tweet support for the 15). This was to keep lines of communications open with the RFEF. The RFEF responded by calling Las15 'brats', 'extortioners' and 'capricious'. Over the following months the captains continued negotiate and secure a number of concessions, including the right of close family to be part of the camp. Ultimately 8 of Las 15 offered to return - the other 7 refused to play for Vilda - but only 3 - along with Hermoso, Paredes, and Putellas were selected.
Roll on to the presentation of the trophy - why did Rubiales pick Hermoso to assault instead of any of the other players. The RFEF bureaucracy has a legacy that goes back to the era of Franco's fascist dictatorship and has regularly been criticised for failing to act against racism, misogyny and homophobia. Hermoso, Paredes and Putellas are the only players in the squad who played a prominent role in all the disputes between the RFEF and the women's team over the past 10 years. However, while Paredes is Basque, and Putellas is from Catalunya, Hermoso is from Madrid (and her father played for Franco's team Atletico Madrid). From the perspective of 'the man in love with his balls' (title of an article by Ana Requena Aguilar in el Diario), Hermoso should have known her place - she was not from one of the regions but Castilian, from the heart of Spanish nationalism and a descendent of one of Franco's players. In my opinion Rubiales decided that Hermoso needed to be taught a lesson and a message needed to be sent to the rest of the squad. He thought he would get away with it in the euphoria of the WC victory.
It has now spectacularly blown up in his face - despite pressure from the RFEF on Hermoso and her family to comply with RFEF demands to support Rubiales, Hermoso has come out to say that the RFEF statement that the 'kiss' was consensual was a lie. The entire world cup squad have now gone on strike demanding the dismissal of Rubiales and Vilda. 89 current and former international players have publicly declared their support for Hermoso. The RFEF is now threatening to sue Hermoso for defamation and is threatening to sue the entire WC squad using a sports law that has its origins in the Franco dictatorship that it is illegal to refuse to represent Spain in international competition. Vilda - and the men's HC de la Fuente - clapped in support of Rubiales when he said that he wouldn't resign at the press conference on Friday (indeed all practically all them men present clapped as Rubiales attacked Hermoso). Both Vilda and de la Fuente have now come out and said that Rubiales behaviour was 'inappropriate'.
But the reaction is Spain has been swift - Xavi condemned Rubiales and gave 'unconditional support' to Hermoso - several male players have said they will not play for the Spainish team until Rubiales is sacked. Alexia Putellas tweet #SeAcabo (It's Over) has gone viral. At the Sevilla V Girona game the Sevilla players wore t-shirts with #SeAcabo - and the entire 30,000 attendance chanted in support of Hermoso. Before the game between Cadiz and Almeria the Cadiz players unfurled a banner stating 'Todas Somos Jenni' - we are all Jenni - to cheers from the 20,000 in attendance. Thousands of fans have turned up to games in Spain with home-made placards in support of Hermoso. Fans of Rayo Vallecano, the traditional left-wing club in Madrid, are planning a major protest in support of Jenni Hermoso in Madrid ahead of their game against Atletico Madrid tomorrow night.
Rubiales actions demonstrated the ingrained misogyny, racism and homophobia in the Spanish political and cultural establishment. The potential is that the opposition to Rubiales and the RFEF could grow like the 2018 protests against the failure to convict five men for the gang rape of a 14 year old girl (they were convicted of sexual abuse). Eventually Rubiales (and probably Vilda) will be forced out - but it is important that the momentum to force change at the top of the RFEF should not be lost and it should be carried over internationally to send a message that misogyny and assault will not be tolerated.
