The situation has rapidly become more than an ugly moment broadcast around the world.
It is a litmus test for which side you are on: not just on whether Rubiales should be fired, but also in regard to the rights of women athletes the world over. As The Athletic’s Meg Linehan, “Think about the explosive growth and rising popularity of women’s football. Then think about where we’d be without outright bans of the game [in some countries, women’s teams are not even fielded], misogyny and abuse.
In Rubiales’ Trumpian defiance, he’s gaining support from the most backward, revanchist elements of Spanish society and beyond. Yet, forces are also aligning against him. In addition to the aforementioned, Spanish basketballand several of the team’s top sponsors are standing in support of Hermoso. This has rapidly become a “you can’t stay in neutral on a moving train” moment.
A World Cup triumph should be a moment that is solely about the team. That this squad could perform the way it did even with anand a federation that has disrespected and underfunded it every step of the way, should be the story. This needs to be a moment to agitate for full equality for women’s sports in Spain. They should be having a watershed moment as the nation roars its love, not unlike when the U.S.
But at the very least, the battle lines have been drawn and the fight, simmering for decades in the world of Spanish women’s sports, has finally been joined. I do not expect Rubiales to survive this. But if he emerges from this as some kind of folk hero, it will tell us just how far we have to go, and not only in Spain. The real heroes — the ones who never asked for the title — are Hermoso, her teammates and everyone looking at Rubiales — and Vilda — and saying enough is enough.
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