CNN
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Jennifer Hermoso, Spain’s star player who won the Women’s World Cup, said on Friday that at no point did she consent to an unwanted kiss from the country’s football leader and that she refused to give in to “constant pressure to make a statement”. His actions.
“I felt vulnerable, the victim of an impulse-driven, sexual, inappropriate act,” Hermoso said on social media. “I’m simply not respected.”
After collecting his winners’ medal in Sydney, Australia on Sunday, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, was filmed forcefully kissing Hermoso on the lips, the 33-year-old World Cup winner later said. Don’t like” and “didn’t expect.”
Rubiales, 46, refused to resign his post after a week of intense criticism. Speaking at the federation’s extraordinary general assembly on Friday, he said, “I will fight till the end.”
In a controversial speech, she described the kiss as “reciprocal” and spoke of “unjust” campaigns and “fake feminism,” and said “I will not resign” several times during the nearly 30-minute speech, which further revealed. Review.
In her statement, Hermoso said Rubiales’ claims that she consented to the kiss were “absolutely false and part of a manipulative culture of her own making.”
He described refusing requests to release a statement to “reduce pressure” on Rubiales.
“Despite my decision, I must say that I have been under constant pressure to release a statement that would justify the actions of Mr. Luis Rubiales,” Hermoso said.
Hermoso, along with teammates and other professional women’s soccer players in Spain’s 2023 World Cup-winning squad, said on Friday they will not play for the country again until Rubiales is removed from her position.
Eighty-one people signed a statement posted to players’ union site FUTPRO and shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“No woman should have to answer questions based on explicit images seen by the entire world, and certainly, no one should engage in approaches without consent,” the statement said.
The national team players continued: “It fills us with sadness that such an unacceptable act tarnishes the greatest sporting achievement in the history of Spanish women’s football.
“After everything that happened during the medal ceremony at the Women’s World Cup, we want to announce that all the players who signed this statement will not put themselves forward for national team selection until there is real leadership.”
