Spanish football officials call on president to resign over kiss row

Luis Rubiales is under fire after kissing a player but has the support of his mother, who announced she was on hunger strike

Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales, who has said he will not resign. EPA

Senior officials in the Spanish Football Federation have called on suspended president Luis Rubiales to resign on Monday after he kissed a female player.

Mr Rubiales, 46, kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips in view of a worldwide TV audience as Spain celebrated winning the Women's World Cup in Sydney on August 20.

The heads of the regional organisations that make up the football federation issued a joint statement in which they asked him to step down.

“After the latest developments and the unacceptable behaviour that has caused great damage to the image of Spanish soccer, the presidents request that Luis Rubiales resign immediately as president of the RFEF,” the statement said.

It adds pressure on Mr Rubiales, after prosecutors announced earlier on Monday that they were opening a preliminary investigation into whether the kiss amounted to sexual assault.

Hermoso said she did not consent and female players have rallied to her side amid threats of legal action by the federation, which disputes her account.

Urgent meetings were being held on Monday to defuse the controversy, which has led to Mr Rubiales being suspended by Fifa and told to resign by members of the Spanish government.

Mother goes on hunger strike

Amid the clamour, his mother locked herself in a church on Monday and announced that she has gone on hunger strike in support of her son.

Angeles Bejar said Mr Rubiales was "incapable of hurting anyone" and denounced what she calls the "inhumane hunt" he is facing.

Ms Bejar told Spanish news agency EFE that there was "consent on both sides, as the images prove".

She said her strike at the parish church of Divina Pastora, in Mr Rubiales's hometown of Motril, would last "indefinitely, day and night ... until a solution is found to the inhumane and bloody hunt they are carrying out against my son".

She asked "why they're taking it out on him" and said Hermoso should "tell the truth".

Spain's Jenni Hermoso said she did not consent to being kissed by the country's football chief, Luis Rubiales. Reuters

Women's rights in focus

The dispute has overshadowed Spain's World Cup triumph and prompted a debate about women's rights and male behaviour in the country.

Acting Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz met a players' union on Monday to discuss "guaranteeing that events such as those that occurred in the final … are duly sanctioned".

Ms Diaz told reporters that Mr Rubiales's refusal to resign showed "the worst of Spanish society, of the structural machismo of this country", after some male delegates applauded his defiant speech to the federation.

"They clapped and humiliated and made fun of a person they had the obligation to protect under the sports law, and far from doing that, they inflicted more damage, more pain, more vexation," she said.

The federation called a separate meeting with regional football associations to assess the situation.

Mr Rubiales has refused to resign, insisting the kiss was a "consensual peck". Fifa handed him a provisional 90-day suspension on Saturday.

Atletico Madrid players hold up a banner saying 'with you, Jennifer Hermoso' as footballers rally to her side. Reuters

The Spanish federation has backed Mr Rubiales and published a lengthy analysis of Hermoso's body language that it claimed backed up the president's account.

Hermoso said that "at no time" did she consent to the kiss and that "simply put, I was not respected".

Prosecutors with Spain's National Court said they would give Hermoso 15 days to contact them if she wants to file a legal complaint.

They said they had "opened a preliminary investigation to look into the facts, which could constitute an offence of sexual assault".

Dozens of Spanish players – some of whom were already at odds with the federation over the position of manager Jorge Vilda – have said they will not play again until Mr Rubiales quits. Members of the coaching staff also resigned.

Players from rival squads have backed Hermoso. The England team, who were beaten by Spain in the final, issued a statement saying "we have all seen the truth".