Spain kiss row: Males’s soccer coach apologises for applauding Rubiales

Sep 02, 2023 at 12:13 PM
Spain kiss row: Males’s soccer coach apologises for applauding Rubiales

The coach of the Spanish males’s nationwide soccer staff, Luis de la Fuente, has apologised for applauding Luis Rubiales throughout the speech wherein he refused to resign. 

Mr Rubiales, 46, claimed within the speech final Friday that he was the sufferer of a “social assassination” after he was extensively criticised for forcibly kissing participant Jenni Hermoso on the Women’s World Cup presentation ceremony.

The males’s coach was sitting within the entrance row throughout Mr Rubiales’ speech and clapped when he attacked “false feminism”.

Jennifer Hermoso  is kissed by president of the RFEF Luis Rubiales during the FIFA Womens World Cup 2023 Final football match
Image:
Jenni Hermoso is kissed by Luis Rubiales throughout the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 last

In that speech, Mr Rubiales claimed that Ms Hermoso consented to the kiss that adopted the World Cup win in Sydney and repeatedly shouted that he was not going to resign.

Mr de la Fuente stated the soccer federation president’s defiant speech was a “situation that overwhelmed many of us for which I was not prepared for” – saying he anticipated Mr Rubiales to resign.

“I want to take this moment and my place as national men’s coach to explain the situation.

“I’ve acquired harsh criticism for it. Do you recognize what I consider the criticisms? They are totally deserved, that I’m sorry, that I perceive them and ask forgiveness for them.

“Those that know me know that these gestures do not represent my values, nor my way of thinking, nor my way of behaving in life. I always have been and will be on the side of equality and respect.

“During my 26 years as coach, the final 11 on the Spanish soccer federation, I’ve all the time had flawless behaviour that a lot of you’re witnesses of.

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“All of us remember what happened after the victory with our players in Sydney, and there is something that we all have very clear.

“Not Jenni [Hermoso] and never any of the opposite gamers are answerable for what occurred there.

Read extra:
‘Eye-opening response’ in Madrid to World Cup kiss
Who said what in World Cup kiss row
Who is Luis Rubiales – the football boss at the centre of a kissing row

Mr de la Fuente made the apology whereas saying the boys’s squad for Spain’s upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers towards Georgia and Cyprus.

Mr Rubiales was suspended by FIFA for 90 days over the kissing row.

The ladies’s staff have refused to play till Mr Rubiales goes, whereas the team’s manager could also be forced to quit for applauding Mr Rubiales throughout his defiant speech final week.