On October 30, 2023, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee released a statement in which it announced the ban of Luis Rubiales “from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years.”
According to FIFA, the former president of the Spanish Football Association was found to have acted in breach of Article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code when he kissed player Jennifer Hermoso after the World Cup Final in August.
Hermoso later filed an official criminal complaint against Rubiales, accusing him of sexual assault.
In a statement, she writes:
“I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out-of-place act without any consent on my part.”
Hermoso also told the BBC she received threats online, and while several people commented on her statement in support, others weren’t as pleased about it.
On X, commonly known as Twitter, one user wrote:
“No, she felt okay back then but when she saw people are sympathizing, she saw an opportunity to jump on the clout train and gain publicity.”
Many people believe that Hermoso’s statement is a lie she was made to tell by ‘the far left’ and that she really didn’t mind the kiss, as a video circulated in which she and her teammates appear to be joking about it and celebrating.
Others make fun of her complaint, saying it is blown out of proportion.
Under a picture of Hermoso in which she and two other players are kissing their trophy, one user comments:
“Did you ask the trophy for consent?”
While the incident seems to have divided major parts of football fans and anyone else who paid attention to it, it has shed light on a structural problem within football clubs and organisations when it comes to sexual abuse.
Minky Worden, author and part of Human Rights Watch, told Forbes Magazine:
“The Women’s World Cup has highlighted how many sexual abusers there are in charge of women’s soccer, abusing players and extorting them for sex to even play on the women’s national team.”
In 2021, FIFA promised to set up a global safe sports entity, but according to sources, the establishment of that body has not moved forward over the last few months.
A survey published by ‘Press and Journal’, reveals that 60 percent of female footballers in Scotland have experienced sexism, and five per cent say they have been victims of sexual abuse within a football environment.
In most cases, no action was taken, and no one reported their experience to the police. Almost half of female players also stated they experienced verbal abuse. Women in football are often subject to body shaming or receive sexualised or homophobic comments, sometimes even death threats. However, women aren’t the only ones suffering from structures that enable sexual abuse and harassment in football.
Most famously, Clive Sheldon QC published a report in 2021 on non-recent child abuse in football. While that report focuses on abuse that happened in the late 20th century, he concludes that while it is not evident that the FA was aware of systemic problems regarding child abuse, they did not do enough to keep children safe.
In his report, Sheldon writes:
“As well as recognising and facing up to what happened in the past, it is also important that this terrible history is not repeated and that everything possible is done now to safeguard the current and future generations of young players.”
But even though there is more awareness of sexual abuse happening in football now than there was ever before, in roughly ten per cent of all 211 FIFA member associations, sexual abuse and harassment, as well as sexism, are still a common problem, leaving a lot to be desired when it comes to preventing sexist and sexual abuse of and by football players and officials of all ranks and genders.
“2023 Women’s World Cup Semifinal Game (53151713240)” by Wendy Harman from Washington DC, USA is licensed under CC BY 2.0.