The resigned president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, reiterated this Tuesday that the kiss with the player Jenni Hermoso was “consensual”, mutual,” and without any sexual connotation.
“It was a mutual act; she came to me very happy. She lifted me up; she lifted me in the air. We were both excited,” Rubiales said this Tuesday in an interview with the British television show Piers Morgan Uncensored.
“I had a short conversation with her. We congratulated each other. I gave her a quick kiss. I asked her, ‘Can I give you a quick kiss?’, something normal in our country,” Rubiales added in that interview.
“I think he tapped me on the side once or twice; he laughed, and that was it. It wasn’t intentional. There was no sexual connotation whatsoever; it was simply a moment of happiness, the great joy of the moment.” Rubiales explained.
The former RFEF president caused surprise and public outrage when he kissed player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth at the World Cup medal ceremony in Australia on August 20 after Spain’s victory.
His action, along with his gestures in the box that included placing his hand on his genitals, and his subsequent refusal to resign at an RFEF meeting five days later, led to his 90-day ban by FIFA.
At the same time, the Spanish sports justice system opened a case against him, and a judge at the National Court of Justice, Spain’s main criminal court, called him on Friday to testify in an investigation into an alleged crime of sexual assault.
“It turned out to be a snowball created with false arguments. My intentions were noble, 100% non-sexual, 100%, I repeat 100%,” insisted Rubiales, in which he also spoke of his resignation, which he announced on Sunday.
The former RFEF president justified his hugs and exuberance by saying, “I think that for cultural reasons Latinos are more inclined to touch each other; it’s quite normal in a Latin American world between boys and girls.”
Rubiales admitted he was “embarrassed” by his behavior in the Sydney Stadium box next to Queen Letizia and, referring to the kiss, stressed: “I made a mistake and I apologize sincerely.”
“A president can give a hug, but he has to act more diplomatically and coolly,” he added.
Rubiales, who denied putting pressure on Hermoso, stressed: “I have full confidence that the truth will come out and everything will be fine.”
