PORTIMAO, Portugal : England women’s football manager Sarina Wiegman said the culture within the sport needs to change after Spain’s former soccer federation head Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault for kissing Jenni Hermoso without her consent following the 2023 World Cup final.
On Thursday, Rubiales was ordered by Spain’s High Court to pay a fine of 10,800 euros ($11,300) for kissing Hermoso on the lips in front of a global TV audience after Spain beat England to win the World Cup.
The incident during the awards ceremony in Sydney caused a nationwide furore about sexism in Spain – overshadowing the team’s World Cup success – and sent shockwaves through the women’s game.
“That we have to talk about this again is good because it changes society and I stand with the Spanish players,” Wiegman told ITV on Friday, moments after England’s 1-1 Nations League draw with Portugal.
“They have so much courage to do this and it does make change, but more change needs to be made. They are still in it and it’s just really unfortunate that we can’t talk about … well, we are talking about football, but we also have to talk about this,” added the Dutchwoman, who dedicated her 2023 UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year award to the Spanish women’s team.
The ruling also prevents Rubiales from going within a 200 metres of Hermoso and banned him from communicating with her for one year. He will also have to pay Hermoso 3,000 euros as compensation.
The Spain midfielder told the trial that the kiss “stained one of the happiest days of my life”.
The highest court in global sport on Friday dismissed an appeal by Rubiales against his three-year ban from any football-related activity.
World soccer governing body FIFA had banned Rubiales in October 2023 for three years and the 47-year-old had the option to appeal the decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
However, a CAS panel determined that his behaviour at the trophy ceremony “constituted multiple and serious violations of the FIFA Disciplinary Code”, adding that it saw no reason to consider the sanction to be disproportionate.
Wiegman’s England squad host Spain in the Nations League at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday in a rematch of that 2023 World Cup final.
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