MIRROR
There have been yet more twists in the controversy that surrounds Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales, with fresh footage from the Women’s World Cup final disapproving claims Jenni Hermoso lifted him up.
At a heated assembly meeting on Friday, the 46-year-old football chief repeatedly refused to resign over his forced kiss on Hermoso and even described it as a ‘simple peck’.
Shortly afterwards, the Spanish FA then claimed it was Hermoso who had instigated the clinch and lifted up Rubiales during the presentation ceremony, producing several photographs and branding her claims ‘lies’.
That statement, in which the Spanish football federation threatened to sue Hermoso, was later deleted but it prompted a furious backlash from around the world, while FIFA provisionally suspended Rubiales.
Since his animated speech on Friday, Rubiales has been lying low but on Monday Spanish prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into whether the incident amounts to a crime of sexual assault while the Spanish football federation’s regional leaders urged him to resign.
Now claims that the kiss was ‘mutual’ appear to have been rubbished by a fresh, wide-angle video of the presentation which contradicts Rubiales and the Spanish FA’s interpretation of what happened.
In the footage, it is Rubiales who appears to lift his feet off the ground and effectively jump up into Hermoso’s arms, with the forward herself remaining largely motionless.
In one of the descriptions accompanying the photos the RFEF provided, it was claimed that Rubiales had to hold on to Hermoso ‘so as not to fall’ and that ‘it is evident that the arching of the player’s body corresponds to the lifting force of Mr President’.
Yet the new footage shows Rubiales lifting himself off the ground on his own accord, with Hermoso only reacting after the Spanish chief’s feet have left the floor.
Novas imagens desmentem versão da Federação espanhola ⬇️
REF garantiu em comunicado que a Hermoso tinha levantado Rubiales enquanto o abraçava. pic.twitter.com/D6dQI34BSy
— Cabine Desportiva (@CabineSport) August 28, 2023
The revelation follows hot on the heels of the astonishing news that Rubiales’ mother, Angeles Bejar, has locked herself in a church in Motril, near Malaga, and begun a hunger strike ‘until Hermoso tells the truth’.
The 72-year-old has been visited by doctors across the last 30 hours but is still refusing to eat and sent a WhatsApp message to a Spanish TV station on Tuesday saying she ‘doesn’t mind dying for justice because my son is a decent person and it’s not fair what they’re doing.’
The Daily Mail, meanwhile, claim FIFA will push for Rubiales to be banned from all football for 15 years – the maximum permitted by their statutes.
In another astonishing chapter of the story, UEFA were forced to reject a request from Rubiales’ number two to suspend Spanish clubs and the national team from European competitions – a threat the RFEF hoped would prompt the Spanish government to back off.
UEFA have been rather quiet over the Rubiales matter given he is still serving as vice-president of the organisation and earning around £214,000-a-year for the role but FIFA’s suspension covers the European body too, meaning he will not be able to attend events, meetings or votes – including Thursday’s Champions League draw.
In another astonishing chapter of the story, UEFA were forced to reject a request from Rubiales’ number two to suspend Spanish clubs and the national team from European competitions – a threat the RFEF hoped would prompt the Spanish government to back off.
UEFA have been rather quiet over the Rubiales matter given he is still serving as vice-president of the organisation and earning around £214,000-a-year for the role but FIFA’s suspension covers the European body too, meaning he will not be able to attend events, meetings or votes – including Thursday’s Champions League draw.
