"After the latest events and the unacceptable behaviours that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, we request that Mr Luis Rubiales immediately present his resignation as president of the Spanish football federation,” the Spanish football federation’s regional presidents say in a joint statement.
🤖 I’m a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:
Click here to see the summary
On Monday, more than a week after Rubiales grabbed forward Jenni Hermoso by the head and planted a kiss on her lips, the federation’s regional presidents were summoned to an “extraordinary and urgent” meeting in Madrid to assess the impact of the crisis.
The demand was a seeming reversal from the scene that had played out at the federation’s meeting on Friday, where Rubiales, 46, repeated “I will not resign” five times to vigorous applause from the members in attendance.
Monday’s statement, which made no mention of Jenni Hermoso by name, noted that it was time for a “new phase” for the federation, which in the wake of Rubiales’ provisionary suspension will be led by his right-hand man, Pedro Rocha, and called for the “deep and imminent restructuring” of the institutional body.
On Saturday, Vilda, along with the men’s national team coach, Luis de la Fuente, issued statements condemning Rubiales’ behaviour.
On Monday, prosecutors at Spain’s top criminal court said they had launched a preliminary investigation into whether Rubiales’ unsolicited kiss of Hermoso could constitute sexual assault.
“On Friday we saw the worst of Spanish society, of the structural machismo of this country,” she had told reporters earlier, in a reference to Rubiales’ speech to the federation.
Saved 70% of original text.