Okay so I posted something about the whole Luis Rubiales situation on IG last night and many people replied they didn’t know what was going on, some saying they didn’t know why it was such a big deal etc.. so let me explain because bullshit has been going on lowkey for a minute but the last few days has picked up the momentum of a freight train and the world is finally hearing about it.
So let’s start not with Luis Rubiales but with Jorge Vilda. Vilda became coach of the Spanish women’s senior team back in 2015 having previously coached the Under 19s and Under 17s. Despite having a fair bit of success a lot of complaints were lodged against him relating to inappropriate behaviour. For example, he allegedly would ask the players to leave their hotel doors unlocked at night so he could come in and ‘check on them’, he would search their personal items and even ‘monitor’ them when they left camp to meet up with friends and family. Remember, this is the senior squad so these are grown ass women.
The women lodged complaints with the RFEF (the Spanish Football Federation - of which Luis Rubiales is the President) and nothing was done. It got to the point in 2022 that 15 players communicated to the RFEF that they would be turning down their call up and future call ups if Vilda was still the gaffer.
So, summary: The Spanish players complained to Luis Rubiales about Jorge Vilda’s conduct, nothing was done. So because they didn’t feel comfortable with his behaviour and the negative effect it had on their mental health they turned down one of the biggest honours as a sporting professional, the opportunity to represent their country. Up until a few weeks before the World Cup this year everything was still up in the air and to give Spain all their flowers, they won the WWC with what was arguably not their first choice team, because 12 of those 15 who boycotted still have not returned.
So this brings us to Luis Rubiales.
All I mentioned above he was made aware of and made the executive decision not to act on it. If he cared about these women or respected these women in the slightest he would have taken their complaints seriously and acted on them. Shit, if you were any kind of boss you would act on them regardless of care or respect - do your job.
Which brings us to the events following the World Cup win.
By now we’ve all heard what happened and seen the video…
I find it astounding that a man, especially a man in his position has reacted the way he has. I’m not even talking about the kiss, we all know that was wholly unprofessional. I’m talking about the arrogant and vehement “I will not resign”, followed by claims the kiss was consensual and Jenni Hermosa is lying. We all saw it happen, dude! He even apologised after, which makes his claims of legal action so ridiculous because the apology is essentially an admission of wrongdoing. If it was consensual, what were you publicly apologising for Mr Rubiales? Hm. It’s not defamatory if it’s true. And yes, he has produced a couple still shots of something or another that ‘prove’ consent but consent cannot be deemed from still shots taken out of context. Something happened before and after said still shots. If we’re trying to use visual imagery to deem if consent took place you need to come better than “I have photos” as photos only tell a fraction, a moment of a story and without context are open to interpretation and are inadmissible. If we’re accepting still photos as evidence, I saw a photo of Jorge Vilda grabbing a female member of staff’s boob, so what are we going to do about that Luis? I have photos…
The way I see it was all he had to do (all both of them had to do) was behave like a normal human being for 90 minutes, or at the very least while cameras were on him and he was incapable. If he could have done that then all the fuckery that the women's footballing community has known about for years would have remained rumours within the community but he just blew the lid off that shit by acting like a cretin. And I feel bad for the Spanish players, not just because they’ve been dealing with this shit for years in silence but because they just won the biggest tournament of their professional careers and it’s being overshadowed by this bullshit.
I fully respect and support the decision of the 81 players who have said they will not play until Rubiales is removed from his post. I honestly hope more players - male and female - support them. I heard somewhere they the RFEF said if they’re called up the HAVE to play. I’d love to see that. How are you going to force people to play exactly? You are dealing with humans not robots. He’s definitely just trying a thing because legally and ethically he has no leg to stand on but that’s how bullies operate isn’t it.
Both Rubiales and Vilda have got to go.