The president of the English federation (FA, for its acronym in English), Debbie Hewitthe accused the former president of the spanish federation Luis Rubiales of “inappropriate” behavior with the English players in the Australia and New Zealand’s past World Cup trophy ceremony.
Hewitt spoke as a witness in the FIFA disciplinary case against Rubiales for his attitude during the World Cup final between Spain and England in which, in addition to obscene gestures during the game, he kissed Jenni Hermoso, a player from Spain, on the mouth without consent.
In a report published by FIFA, Hewitt, who was with Rubiales at the medal presentation, said the Spaniard’s tone of voice was “unpleasant and unnecessarily aggressive” with FIFA workers, before accusing him of improper conduct with the England players.
According to Hewitt, Rubiales “stroked” the face of Laura Coombs and “apparently forcibly kissed” a Lucy Bronze to the face
About the moment when the Spanish players went up to collect their medals, Hewitt noted that he “held them very tightly”, some “stroked their backs”, “held them by the arm” and “raised them from land”.
“It made me very uncomfortable and embarrassed,” Hewitt added.
Rubiales responded to Hewitt’s words by assuring that it is something “incredible” and accused her of “being prejudiced” against him, as well as assuring that she is a hypocrite because she also hugged the players of her team.
“Applying the same logic, their hugs could also be understood as one non-consensual physical contact. The hypocrisy is obvious,” Rubiales said during the hearing.
Regarding his attitude towards Coombs, he justified it by saying that he tried to comfort her because she had been injured during the finalhad required stitches to the head and was wearing a bandage in that area.
FIFA decided to disqualify Rubiales for three years from any football activity, following his behavior during the final of the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
2023-12-06 19:58:42
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