Defiant Rubiales vows to keep defending self after kissing scandal

Luis Rubiales, Spain’s suspended football federation president, said that he will continue to defend himself to prove the truth after the country’s top sports court opened an investigation into his forcible kiss on the lips of player, Jenni Hermoso. “I will continue to defend myself to prove the truth,” he said in a statement published […]

Luis Rubiales, Spain’s suspended football federation president, said that he will continue to defend himself to prove the truth after the country’s top sports court opened an investigation into his forcible kiss on the lips of player, Jenni Hermoso.

“I will continue to defend myself to prove the truth,” he said in a statement published by El Mundo, a national daily in Spain. This is his first public comment since August 25.

“I want to send a message to all the good people in our country and beyond our borders, including those women who have really been attacked and who have my full support and understanding: this is not about gender, it is about truth,” he said.

Rubiales, provisionally suspended from his post by FIFA for 90 days after kissing Hermoso following Spain’s Women’s World Cup final win, is being investigated by Spain’s sports court, while the top criminal court has opened a preliminary probe into the incident.

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The federation chief apologised for his behaviour in Sydney but repeated his belief that the kiss was consensual — Hermoso says it was not, and that she felt like a “victim of an assault”.

“On August 20, I made some obvious mistakes, for which I sincerely, from the heart, regret,” said Rubiales in his statement.

Rubiales reiterated that the kiss was “a mutual and consensual act” with “overflowing jubilation on both sides”.

The Spanish football federation’s territorial presidents asked Rubiales to step down from his post last week, while over 80 women’s players are striking from the national team.