Spanish president bloke.

Sign of the times she didn’t seem at all bothered at the time but pressure has been put on her to complain.misogyny is rife all over the world but this has been blown out of all proportion

 

Blown out of proportion is right. It was wrong, inappropriate and likely done out of euphoria and with no ill intent. An apology should suffic, but no - it has to be prosecuted as sexual assault and the guy will be hounded out of work and at every turn he makes. This extremist gender based ideology is out of control and is damaging to both men and women.

 

Ultimately this was sexual assault and if she wanted to press charges I don't think it would be a hard case to prove. It's not just about that 1 incident but also in that match he grabbed his crotch next to the Spanish queen. if he does this in public and thought it was ok it raises the question of what goes on behind closed doors. This incident only follows on from complaints about the head coach that were not taken seriously and shows a problem that Spanish FA have with not treating the womens team with respect and now to threaten to sue Hermoso is next level wrong. Heads need to roll for this and not just Rubiales

 

No doubt it was wrong and inappropriate and in this day and age may well class as sexual assault. But I also seem to recall when I watched it that immediately prior Hermoso pulled him a hug, body to body and lifted him in the air. Is that assault too?
I actually found his crotch grabbing disgusting by the way, and I am only commenting on the kissing incident in isolation and not any other accusations that may have surfaced.

And finally....in Hebden Bridge

https://mol.im/a/12473521

 

If it was all so innocent why did the Spanish FA make up a statement from her, why have they said they are going to sue her and now why are they interfering with statements?

 

I have no idea why they would do that. It doesn't help his case. The point I was trying to make, possibly naively, is that to me the incident in isolation didn't look aggressive, dominating or an abuse of power. It looked like 2 people celebrating in the heat of the moment.

 

But it's just the tip of the iceberg. It's a blatant sign of entitlement. Nobody kisses another person on the lips without permission unless they're already in a consensual relationship or they think, like Trump, that they can get away with doing whatever they want because of their powerful position. As well as the kiss, he also grabbed his crotch, put his arm around the Queen without asking and picked up and carried another women player.

Spanish women footballers have been complaining about the overtly sexist, macho, discriminatory culture of the Spanish footballing authorities/coaches etc for years. This is very far from being a one-off incident.

The male manager of the Spanish women's team is utterly loathed by almost all of the players. Fifteen players pulled out of the Spanish squad before the women's World Cup finals in protest at the way they are treated and, despite massive pressure from the authorities, only three of them relented and rejoined the squad. Imagine giving up the opportunity to play in the biggest world tournament in your sport, on a point of principle! No one does that unless there are very serious reasons to do so.

And now the (totally male dominated) Spanish FA equivalent is threatening legal actions, leaning on players to make statements they don't agree with and generally acting like the bastards they are in order to deflect criticism from themselves and cling on to power. They are such total out of touch throwbacks that they clearly don't even understand what all the fuss is about! You'd think think they were living in the 1950s, not the 2020s. Of course, they don't normally have their outdated unacceptable behaviours screened live to millions around the world on prime time TV, so they've been completely shocked and wrong-footed by the breadth and depth of the international backlash.

 

OK. As I said I was viewing the incident in isolation and all I saw was a heat of the moment celebration, albeit wrong and inappropriate, as I said. Having now been made aware of the background and ongoing issues with the Spanish FA I accept there may be more to it other than a tacky error of judgement on his behalf.

 

Spanish FA equivalent now trying to distance itself from Rubiales, despite having all stood in a meeting and given him a standing ovation for his sexist rant and refusal to resign two weeks ago.

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/national/23769151.luis-rubiales-conduct-caused-enormous-damage-says-spanish-fa/

And the women's head coach has now been sacked, presumably to persuade the striking women's players to come back to international duty

Jorge Vilda: Spanish federation sacks World Cup-winning coach amid Luis Rubiales kiss row - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66721003

 

I abhor how parts of society (men) treat women but I think this is an orchestrated over reaction look at the player’s reaction in the more extended video coverage she is patting him on the back and laughing certainly not distressed or uncomfortable.

 

She's just won the World Cup! It's perfectly possible to be happy and celebrating that but still be uncomfortable about the kiss. The kiss was completely out of the blue and will have taken her by surprise, but the euphoria of the celebrations with players and officials swept her along.
I expect that only after all the euphoria had died down did she recognise and reflect on how deeply inappropriate Rubiales' conduct was. Whether she fully comprehended that at the time is irrelevant. The issue is not about whether she was or wasn't distressed at the time. The issue is the utter inappropriateness of Rubiales' actions. And, as I pointed out above, this incident was the tip of the iceberg - a 'last straw' moment that finally broke the camel's back and caused widespread domestic and international condemnation of the macho old boys club running Spanish football.

 

We will have to agree to differ this appears to me a spontaneous thing brought on by elation.
Women needed to be protected from unwanted attention but it doesn’t do them any favours by steamrolling the player into complaining when clearly she wasn’t in the slightest bit bothered by it

 

Whether she was bothered by it isn't the main issue. The issue is that the Spanish Football Federation is headed up by a throwback macho oaf who thinks it's ok to kiss women on the lips without permission, grab his crotch in front of TV millions worldwide, hug the Spanish Queen without asking, and pick up another woman footballer and carry her some distance. And then is bemused and angry when he's called out for such blatantly inappropriate behaviour, because he's used to doing exactly what he wants and getting away with it.

Regardless of whether Hermosa was bothered by it, the worldwide negative reaction has been overwhelming.
Rubiales' has been exposed as an entitled power monger, supported by cronies with similar outdated attitudes. The incident has served to shine a light onto the persistent and long-standing issues of sexism, discrimination and male dominance in Spanish women's football. The powers that be (albeit very reluctantly) are having to take a good look at their organisation and make some long overdue changes. So some good has come of it.

 

It has everything to do with whether she was bothered by it.

She was laughing and joking about it with her team mates well after the incident on a team bus, making jokes out of it. She didn't want any of this. Do you really think she wanted the spotlight to be taken from her, her team mates etc over a peck by an elated fellow Spaniard? If she was paraded in the streets she'd be getting kissed and hugged by everyone in the crowd. There's nothing malicious about it. In some cultures you greet people with a kiss in every day life.

It's only once others get involved that her hand is turned. And it's blatantly obvious that it's the woke world that has pretty much forced her into being offended/upset by it.

As for hugging people next to you in the crowd when your team wins/scores - we all do it week in week out! Are you suggesting supporters (regardless of status) should ask for permission before hugging someone next to them in the crowd? Imagine how joylessly morbid goal celebrations would be.

It's just faux outrage to suit woke politics, and the ones who are so deeply 'offended' are exactly the same types who are 'offended' by other politically aligned "outrages".

 

Absolute bullshit. Yes, there are cultures in which people greet each other with a kiss, or several. But on the cheeks. Nobody, in any culture that I'm aware of, greets another person with a full blown, hand round the back of the head, pulled together, kiss on the mouth, unless they're already in a consensual relationship.
He wasn't hugging any old supporter in the stands - which of course we've all done in moments of elation - he was hugging the Queen FFS . And he blatantly grabbed his crotch while standing next seat but one from the Queen's young daughter. I can think of no circumstances in which any senior official, sporting or otherwise, in any country, would think any of those actions is appropriate.

It's not 'woke' to expect officials to treat people with respect and common decency. Whether Hermosa was outraged at the time or has changed her mind since, is neither here nor there. Rubiales' behaviour was completely unacceptable, as demonstrated by the massive domestic and international condemnation. The man is a throwback, just like Trump, who thinks he can do what he likes with women and get away with it.

What you completely ignore is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Spanish women footballers have been complaining for years about the patronising, sexist attitudes and behaviours of Rubiales and all his male cronies running Spanish women's football. That's why twelve of their top players pulled out of the World Cup squad and why the entire current squad is refusing to play for Spain until there are changes. The fact that Rubiales and his Spanish Football Federation mates don't understand what he has done wrong just demonstrates how completely out of touch with acceptable modern behaviour they are. And/or that they are determined to hang onto their positions of privilege despite having been shown up and called out for the misogynists they are. The fact that you are defending Rubiales' is no surprise whatsoever.