Analysis: Women's soccer in both Spain and Ireland have seen abuses of power which demonstrate ongoing restrictive attitudes towards women
By Susana Monserrat-Revillo, Loughborough University, Katie Liston, Ulster University, Mark Doidge, Loughborough University and Gary Sinclair, Dublin City University
A Spanish court today convicted and fined the former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales of sexual assault over the forced kiss he gave star forward Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 Women's World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney, but acquitted him of the charge of coercion.
The judge at Spain's High Court found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault over the kiss and fined him €10,800, though he did not receive a prison sentence. The former soccer executive was also banned from going within a 200 metre radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for a period of one year.
From France 24, Spain's ex-football chief Luis Rubiales fined €10,800 for unsolicited kiss of player
Our newly published article analyses how this scandal manifested itself in online coverage in Spain. Though some do not regard these events as a court matter, there are a several reasons why they are as applicable to the daily lives of women in Spain as they are to women elsewhere, including Ireland.
Indeed, women's football in Ireland had its own revelations last year, when a joint Sunday Independent/RTE investigation revealed historical abuses of power by male coaches involved in the senior international women's team and in a FÁS coaching course for girls in the 1990s. The aftermaths of both cases tell us much about changing attitudes towards women in daily life, and towards their place in soccer.
From RTÉ Investigates, results of a joint RTÉ Investigates/Sunday Independent two year investigation into Irish women's soccer
Rubiales' action ignited a chain of events with intense emotional responses that led to a 'moral shock’ and initiated political action. A similar emotional reaction occured in relation to the Girls in Green investigation in Ireland. It was seen in comments around newspaper articles and the RTÉ documentary and in the tone and content of the public statement issued by the Football Association of Ireland. It was also in the public responses online and in mainstream media of women and men who empathised with the experiences of those women involved and identified forms of masculinity as contributing to the problem.
In the digital era, the scandal in Spain also became a social drama that mobilised feminist campaigners and others who sought to defend Rubiales. Similar comments were made, usually in private, in defence of the male coaches identified in Girls in Green, who denied any wrongdoing. In fact, some people queried whether feminist politics had gone too far.
Both the Irish and Spanish cases are examples of a backlash to the movement towards gender equality and they demonstrate ongoing restrictive attitudes towards women. These events were familiar to many women working in non-sporting spaces, such as offices where passive bystanding enables sexist ideas to prevail and leaders are not challenged on inappropriate behaviours. In fact, these dynamics often remain hidden.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Jenni Hermoso tells trial that Spain football kiss 'stained' World Cup win
In Spain, powerful actors expressed support for Hermoso, including the Spanish government, members of the Spanish public who held demonstrations, and other female footballers, including members of the 2023 England team, who lost to Spain in the final. Interestingly, the Spanish men's national team did not express any support for Hermoso and her teammates.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee forced the Spanish Football Federation to apologise and to enter negotiations with the women’s team, who previously had complained about coach-athlete relations and conditions within the international set-up. Rubiales and his management team were also forced to resign or were dismissed.
In the Spanish case, the social drama involving ‘the kiss’ occurred in the full glare of international media. In Ireland, historical events were played out in the spotlight and precipitated calls to the independent helpline, Raise A Concern, employed by the FAI.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Brendan O'Connor Show, Marie Crowe and Mark Tighe on the joint Sunday Independent/RTÉ Investigates' investigation into the Girls In Green
There are common strategies used in social dramas like these, in sport, academia and other work contexts, where traditional masculine values dominate and where males hold legitimate power based on roles of authority. In those contexts, we can predict some of the responses when women push back: denial, total or partial, of any indiscretion; reframing or active minimising of the event and its impact; removal of responsibility and blaming victims – it wasn’t me; it was only a hug or a kiss; it was a bit of harmless fun or banter; everyone else did the same; no one said no; she has a reputation of attracting male attention; this is how things are; and so on.
But social dramas end and the undercurrent continues to flow. The trial in Spain has now reached a conclusion, while women in Ireland are talking a little more openly about their current or past experiences of sexism and abuses of power in sport. Not every man will respond in the same way. More have spoken today, than in the past, of their discomfort about what is revealed in these current and historical dramas about masculine ideas and the place of women in society. Much more also needs to be said and done about dignity and respect in healthy relations with women, in and out of sport.
Thanks to Theo Lynn, Colm Kearns (DCU); Jack Black (Sheffield Hallam); Dan Kilvington and Thomas Fletcher (Leeds Beckett) for their contributions to this article
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
