Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales faces calls for resignation

The GIST: While we should be focused on celebrating the record viewership numbers rolling in from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), instead, we unfortunately have to discuss Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales forcibly kissing Spain’s star player, Jennifer Hermoso, during her team’s WWC win celebration on Sunday.

The latest: Backlash over the incident — which Hermoso said she “did not enjoy” — was swift, leading to a half-hearted “apology” video from Rubiales that multiple government officials in Spain, including the acting prime minister, deemed insufficient.

• Acting second deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, has said Rubiales should resign, calling his excuses “useless” and saying that Hermoso was “harassed and assaulted.”

• Rubiales’ astounding audacity also comes amid his ongoing support for controversial Spanish head coach Jorge Vilda, in spite of ongoing player protest regarding the alleged toxic work environment under him.

What’s next: Amid numerous calls for Rubiales to step down, Spain’s football federation (which retains the sole power to fire Rubiales) announced yesterday that they will hold an “Extraordinary General Assembly” this Friday to discuss the incident.

• Furthermore, a damning report from Spanish newspaper Revelo alleges Rubiales and Vilda asked Hermoso to appear in the aforementioned apology video multiple times, but she refused.

• Even worse — the statement Hermoso gave defending Rubiales after the incident was reportedly written and circulated by the federation without her approval. What the actual eff.