During Spain’s celebration after winning its first Women’s World Cup championship Sunday, Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales kissed forward Jennifer Hermoso on the lips as the team was awarded its gold medals.
The awkward moment overshadowed what should have been a celebratory moment for the entire country, and on Monday, Rubiales issued an apology, both for the kiss and his initial defiance after the fact.
“I made a mistake, for sure,” Rubiales said in a video about the incident, per ESPN. “I have to accept it. In a moment of such emotion, without any bad intention or bad faith, what happened, happened, in a very spontaneous way. [There was] no bad faith from either side.
“Here we saw it as something natural and normal. But on the outside it has caused a stir, because people have felt hurt by it, so I have to apologize; there’s no alternative. I have to learn from this and understand that a president of an institution as important as the federation—above all in ceremonies and that kind of thing—should be more careful.”
On a live stream after the award presentation, Hermoso said that she “didn’t like” the kiss, adding, “But what can I do?”
In comments later released to the press by the Spanish football federation, she was quoted as saying it was a “totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings.”
“The president and I have a great relationship, his behavior with all of us has been outstanding and it was a natural gesture of affection and gratitude,” she continued.
As video of the kiss made the rounds Sunday, it drew ire from those across the country and the sport. Among those who spoke out was Irene Montero, Spain’s minister of equality, who called the unwanted kiss “a form of sexual violence that women suffer on a daily basis,” and something that “we cannot normalize.”
Rubiales’s initial comments as the controversy mounted on Sunday were far more defiant, calling those who believed his actions were inappropriate “idiots and stupid people” who should be ignored, according to The Guardian.
By Monday, he acknowledged that the kiss “somewhat tarnished” his country’s milestone achievement.
