Disgraced Spanish Football Association chief, Luis Rubiales has insisted he kissed Jennifer Hermoso in the way he would kiss one of his daughters.
Rubiales sparked controversy around the football world when he kissed Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney last month.
Protests against Rubiales
The 46-year-old has faced calls to resign after the incident, with protests against his presidency taking place across Spain and high-profile figures across the world of football and beyond calling for him to step down.
FIFA handed him an initial 90-day suspension, and are pushing to ban him for longer, while the Spanish FA publicly apologised for his behaviour.
Rubiales resign
Rubiales eventually announced on Monday, September 11, that he would resign from his role, but in an interview with Piers Morgan, which will air on Tuesday night, he maintained he meant no harm by kissing Hermoso.
‘There was no harm, no sexual content, no aggression, nothing like that,’ Rubiales told Piers Morgan Uncensored.
‘The significance of the kiss to Jenni would have been exactly the same as a kiss to one of my daughters.
‘Between friends and family, that’s very, very common.’
He added: ‘Under no circumstance was there any aggression and under no circumstance was there any sexual content.
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‘I want to say that, Piers, again, I made a mistake, I apologise, but let’s be clear, under no circumstance is this sexual aggression.’
Rubiales described the kiss as ‘a very happy moment, a celebration, a euphoric moment’, but concedes he ‘should have acted in a more solemn, cold and diplomatic way.’
Rubiales in a battle of lawsuit
Hermoso lodged a formal complaint last week before returning to Mexico where she plays her club football and prosecutors announced on Friday they had made their formal complaint to a judge at the Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid.
The outgoing Spanish FA president has insisted the kiss was consensual and described it as a ‘peck’.
Rubiales is still facing the possibility of a criminal prosecution for sexual assault and coercion over his ‘unsolicited kiss’ after Spain’s National Court – the highest court in the country – opened a preliminary investigation into Rubiales’ conduct.
‘The truth will come out’
But the Spanish FA chief defiantly maintains the truth ‘will come out’ in a criminal probe.
‘I have full faith that the truth will come out and everything will be fine. Take a look at my face, I am a good guy,’ he said.
Rubiales also told Morgan he spoke to his daughters LucÃa, Ana, and Elena, as well as his father and friends before reaching the decision to step down after weeks of clinging onto this post.
‘I spoke with my daughters and they know it is not a question about me. They say I have to focus on my dignity and my life. In this situation now, this is the thing that I have to do,’ he said.
‘Some friends very close to me said, “Luis, you have to focus on your dignity and to continue your life because if not you are going to damage the people you love and the sport you love.”‘
