Luis Rubiales, the president of Spain’s soccer federation, refused to resign Friday over the unsolicited kiss he gave team member Jenni Hermoso during the ceremony after Spain’s World Cup victory Sunday.
“I won’t resign,” Rubiales defiantly repeated four times during an emergency meeting called by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol. The 46-year-old claimed the efforts to oust him from the position he has held since 2018 were being led by “false feminists,” and said the kiss on Hermoso’s lips was “spontaneous, mutual, euphoric and consensual.”
Rubiales’s speech drew applause from Spain Coach Jorge Vilda among others in attendance.