More than 48 hours after the kiss without consent by the president of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, to one of the World Cup-winning players, Jenni Hermoso, he continues to cling to his position. As if waiting for the storm to subside, since he believes that he has the media and sporting resources to ride out this unacceptable behaviour so that the incident might end up being forgotten, one more scandal in a presidency with several controversial episodes. But, sometimes, such an outcome is completely impossible, because the snapshot remains there like a fragment of history that will remind us of the red line between decency and indecency, the difference between what is allowed and what is prohibited, and between what is legal and what is illegal.
The pictures are shameful, however you look at them. Not only this one, but also another one in the VIP box in which he grabs his own genitals. The inaction of the different instances - what are the public prosecutors doing? - or the media coverage in the Madrid press, in many cases looking for a certain complicity with Rubiales, represent a return to a sexist and chauvinistic Spain that the laws are trying to overcome, but whose persistent existence we are reminded of daily by personalities who are unfit for a public position.
There is no foreign media - from CNN to The New York Times, from L'Equipe to The Guardian - that has not shown up Rubiales' sexism to its readers or viewers. Given that there are nine players from Futbol Club Barcelona in the Spanish team, an act of condemnation from the Barcelona club is also expected, even if it is as a measure to protect its own players, in this case, employees. And what about major sponsors like Iberdrola, amidst the filth that is coming to light - do they have nothing to say?
As the days have past, the storm has become a deluge and every news story we hear deepens the seriousness of the matter. The report that Rubiales pressured her to also appear with him in the video in which he apparently apologized, claiming that his position as president was under dispute and he needed her support, which Hermoso did not give. The report suggesting that the statement made public a few hours after the non-consensual kiss, which was attributed to the footballer and distributed by the RFEF, may not have been hers either.
In short, an indecency about which the first complaints have already begun to arrive, in addition to political criticism from the PP to Sumar. If there is no resignation, it will be necessary to start the dismissal procedure, even if it is long, with a complaint by the Higher Sports Council, dependent on the Spanish ministry culture under Miquel Iceta, to the Administrative Tribunal for Sport. Statements are no longer enough.