The Spanish FA chief acknowledged that kissing one of the team’s players on the lips “tarnished the celebration” of the Women’s World Cup victory.
Luis Rubiales, who is also a member of Uefa’s ruling executive committee and a vice-president of European football’s governing body, issued a video statement on Monday after he was pictured kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso on the lips during Sunday’s medal ceremony in Sydney after Spain beat England 1-0 in the final.
“We saw it as something natural, normal and not in bad faith, but there are people who this has hurt and I have to apologise. There’s no other way, is there?” he said in the video shared with Spanish media.
He then acknowledged that the kissing incident had “somewhat tarnished the celebration”.
Spain’s acting minister of culture and sports, Miquel Iceta, labelled Mr Rubiales’ conduct in Australia as “unacceptable”. The minister urged the Spanish FA chief to clarify his behaviour and offer an apology.
Video of the kiss was shared widely and led to outrage in Spain and abroad.
The minister of equality in the caretaker government, Irene Montero, called it “a form of sexual violence that we women suffer on a daily basis and until now has been invisible”.
“We can’t normalise this,” she said.
Hermoso, however, addressed the controversy herself and said Mr Rubiales’ “behaviour with all of us has been outstanding” while labelling the kiss as “a natural gesture of affection and gratitude”.
“I didn’t like it,” she had initially said with a laugh on an Instagram livestream, according to reports. But in comments offered to news agency AFP by the Spanish football federation, the footballer clarified her comments further.
“It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings,” she said.
“The president and I have a great relationship, his behaviour with all of us has been outstanding and it was a natural gesture of affection and gratitude.”
Mr Rubiales had initially on Sunday refuted allegations that his actions were inappropriate.
“It was a kiss between two friends celebrating something,” he said and labelled those calling his actions inappropriate as “idiots and stupid people”.
“Let’s ignore them and enjoy the good things,” he said.
He, however, issued an apology after the backlash.
“There is something I regret, and it was what happened between me and a player, with whom I have a fantastic relationship, just like with the others, where I have certainly made a mistake. I have to admit it.
“In that moment of absolute exultation, without any bad intentions or bad faith, well… that happened. I believe it happened in a very spontaneous way, which I repeat had no bad intentions from either side.
“From that point on, it wasn’t interpreted that way as we carried on as normal, naturally, and again with no ill will between us. But outside of that it seems like it has caused a commotion as it seemed to do damage, so I want to apologise for it, I don’t ask for anything else.”
“There are also some statements on my part in which I said that I think this is idiotic. It was because no one here on the inside gave it the slightest importance, but outside it has been given importance,” he had said in the Monday video statement.
“So, I also want to apologise to those people because, if it has been seen differently from the outside, surely they have their reasons.”
