Barcelona and Club America players support Jennifer Hermoso with ‘for you, for all of us’ banner as football world unites behind Spain star after Luis Rubiales’ World Cup final kiss
- FIFA have suspended the embattled Spanish FA chief for a minimum of 90 days
- Sevilla and Cadiz players showed support for Hermoso ahead of LaLiga matches
- The Lionesses have also thrown their support behind the Spain star
Barcelona and Club America players showed their support for Spain’s World Cup star Jennifer Hermoso, after she was kissed on the lips by Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
Ahead of Barca’s friendly with Club America in Mexico City on Tuesday night, players from both clubs held a banner reading: ‘It’s over, you’re not alone’.
A slogan on a T-shirt held up by the players proclaimed: ‘Jenni, for you and for all of us’.
Rubiales has been at the centre of a storm of controversy since he kissed Hermoso on the lips after the Spain won the Women’s World Cup final earlier this month in Sydney.
His actions sparked a global outcry, with people accusing him of both assaulting Hermoso and taking attention away from Spain’s achievement.
Barcelona and Club America players showed support for Spain’s World Cup star Jennifer Hermoso ahead of their friendly in Mexico City on Tuesday
Players held up a signs reading ‘You’re not alone’ and ‘Jenni for you and for all of us’
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Rubiales told officials he asked permission to kiss Hermoso, who was said to have responded to say he could give her ‘a little peck’, a version the player has vehemently dismissed.
‘I want to clarify, that at no time did I consent to the kiss,’ Hermoso said in a statement last week.
‘I don’t tolerate that my word is questioned, much less that words are invented that I haven’t said.’
Rubiales has also been criticised for grabbing his crotch in front of Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter Sofia, which he has since apologised for, but has defiantly refused to resign from his post as the head of the RFEF.
Spanish FA chiefs have called on Rubiales to resign with immediate effect with FIFA pushing to ban the official from all football for 15 years amid the scandal, having already imposed a provisional suspension.
Hermoso, meanwhile, has received widespread support from players and fans.
All 23 members of Spain’s victorious World Cup squad signed a statement refusing to play until the 46-year-old was sacked, following his stunning refusal to quit during an emergency assembly on Friday.
Hermoso was kissed on the lips by Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales (right) as she collected her medal after Spain beat England in the Women’s World Cup final earlier this month
Rubiales has held onto his role, despite being asked by the Spanish FA to step down
Over the weekend, Atletico Madrid Women’s players held a banner reading ‘With you Jennifer Hermoso’ ahead of their Copa de la Reina match against AC Milan.
Hermoso received a standing ovation as she watched from the stands as her former club beat Milan 1-0.
On the same day, Sevilla players showed their support by wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase ‘it’s over’ ahead of their LaLiga defeat to Girona.
Cadiz players, meanwhile, walked onto the pitch holding a sign reading ‘We are Jenni’ ahead of their LaLiga match against Almeria.
In the US, Houston Dash players held a sign reiterating a similar message ahead of their game against Kansas City.
The Lionesses also rallied around Spain’s women’s football team on Saturday.
‘Unacceptable actions allowed to happen by a sexist and patriarchal organisation.’ the statement from the World Cup runners-up read.
‘Abuse is abuse and we have all seen the truth.
‘The behaviour of those who think they are invincible must not be tolerated and people shouldn’t take any convincing to take action against any form of harassment.
A Villarreal fan wears a wristband in support of Hermoso at a match against Barcelona
Sevilla players warmed up wearing T-shirts reading the ‘It’s over’ hashtag that Hermoso used in her social media post denouncing Rubiales last week
Atletico Madrid and AC Milan players showed support for Hermoso by holding a banner reading: ‘With you Jennifer Hermoso’ ahead of their Copa de la Reina match
‘We stand with you, Jenni Hermoso.’
Speaking to BBC Sport on Tuesday, Lionesses star Ella Toone insisted Rubiales should be removed from his post.
‘Something like that doesn’t just go away with a sorry – which he hasn’t said either.
‘We don’t want things like this to be happening in women’s sport and unfortunately it’s a talking point we shouldn’t have to talk about.
‘We should be talking about the success of the World Cup and how much we’ve inspired the nation and the next generation.
‘And yet it’s overshadowed by something that shouldn’t be happening so hopefully the right thing is done.’
Public support for Hermoso has reached beyond football’s traditional boundaries, with demonstrators lining the streets of Madrid to demand Rubiales’ resignation.
On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in the Plaza Callao in the Spanish capital with signs and flags showing support for Hermoso.
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