“I am here because there has been injustice with Luis Rubiales,” Juan Tamayo tells The Athletic.
“This is very strong. It cannot be that a person is being called an abuser for a little peck — a kiss — when we all know that he is not. It is despicable. There are many worse things that have happened: a woman died last week and there was not all this brouhaha. It is a double standard.”
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Tamayo is a resident of Motril, the hometown of Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales, who has been suspended by FIFA for his behaviour after Spain won the Women’s World Cup final 10 days ago.
The 46-year-old was filmed kissing Spain forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips as the players collected their medals following the win against England in Sydney.
Rubiales has been heavily criticised by many here in Spain, including the country’s acting president Pedro Sanchez, who labelled his actions that night unacceptable and called on him to consider his position. Acting minister for equality Irene Montero tweeted that his kiss was “sexual abuse”.
Read more: Spain manager defends applauding Rubiales’ speech: ‘I couldn’t control my emotions’
However, these sentiments were not shared by all of those who gathered outside Motril’s Church of the Divine Shepherdess on Monday. Or all of those inside.
Angeles Bejar, Rubiales’ mother, had entered the church on Monday morning to begin a hunger strike. Some protesters held up banners including ‘Stop Rubiales being hunted’ and ‘Jenni, why don’t you tell the truth?’.
“I know the family,” says Tamayo. “This is really tough on them. There cannot be this persecution — you look at any social media and they are saying horrible things, calling him ‘murderer’, ‘thief’, ‘mafioso’. Everyone talks, but without any proof. If he was a murderer, thief, or up to no good, he would have been denounced months ago. Why are they denouncing him now?”.
When it is pointed out Rubiales has been under investigation in various cases, the response is defensive.
“Some are open, some have been closed,” says Tamayo. “I have the impression this is a witch hunt. Why has the president of La Liga been after him for five years? Since the first minute, he has been trying to get rid of Luis Rubiales from the federation presidency. Why are there so many cases taken against him by the president of La Liga?
“It is a war for power, and now there are two female ministers, the two communists, doing the work of La Liga’s president.
“It is something dramatic for the town. He is a kid from here, that we saw playing football here when he was very young, who everyone loves. He even played in La Liga. A Motrileno president of the Spanish football federation. That makes us proud.”
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Also gathered outside the church were dozens of journalists, and only one local who had come to protest against Rubiales and his actions. Francisco Torcuato was wearing a T-shirt with a handwritten message calling on Motril’s mayor, Luisa Maria Garcia Chamorro, to remove the ‘gold medal of the city’ awarded to Rubiales in 2021.
“I am here because Motril has 60,000 inhabitants and 125 people are doing huge damage to our international reputation,” Torcuato says. “This is not what Motril is as a city. It is not sexist, women are not kissed without their consent, nor are they grabbed by the head. We do not all believe Rubiales’ version (of what happened on the podium in Sydney), so something had to be done. And we are asking for the mayor to take away his gold medal, urgently.”
Torcuato said there were more locals who, like him, do not support the suspended Spanish FA chief, but that the family had a lot of power in the city where Luis Manuel Rubiales Lopez — his father — was mayor from 1995 to 2003.
Police were present all day outside the church, and officers entered during the evening to speak with Rubiales’ mother, who had been accompanied inside by his aunt. Officers told reporters that the pair were in good health, and had water and isotonic drinks. The church is connected to the residence of the priest, who did not appear all day.
Torcuato added: “There is a lot of fear here. Many people think that if you go against him, you won’t be able to work. Motril works like that. The police should have taken her (Rubiales’ mother) out already. This protest does not have any permission, it is completely illegal.”
As the drama played out on the street outside the pretty, white Divina Pastora in the middle of this Andalusian city, an hour’s drive east along Spain’s south coast from Malaga, news emerged across Spain that could impact Rubiales’ future.
If his mother had not started a hunger strike inside a church, any one of these incidents might have been the most chaotic moment of a chaotic day.
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In the morning, it emerged that Andreu Camps, general secretary at the Spanish FA (RFEF), had sent a request to UEFA, European football’s governing body, on Friday asking for it to suspend his federation. UEFA doing so would mean Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad being left out of the 2023-24 Champions League group stage draw later this week.
Camps, a longtime Rubiales ally, made the request on the grounds that the Spanish government had broken UEFA rules on political interference: Spain’s High Council for Sport (CSD), a government body, requested Rubiales be investigated by the country’s Administrative Sports Court (TAD) on Friday.
The TAD is described in Spanish law as being part of the CSD, while acting independently of it. Four of its seven members are chosen by the CSD president, with three representatives proposed by various Spanish sporting federations.
UEFA has decided not to take any action following Camps’ complaint.
Then the hits started coming for Rubiales himself.
As Friday rolled into the afternoon, the Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court announced it had opened a sexual assault investigation against him.
The Spanish ministry did so after receiving six complaints from individuals or associations, but especially after the statement published by Hermoso last Friday, where she confirmed she felt “vulnerable” and a “victim of an aggression”, which has meant a change of course in the case.
That is why the prosecutor’s office has invited Hermoso to formalise the complaint she made public on Friday with the statement about the non-consensual kiss. She will have 15 days to contact that department.
Rubiales has also lost support in the one organisation he previously could guarantee help from — the RFEF.
There was a meeting of the commission of presidents of its regional and territorial federations on Monday.
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That evening, a statement appeared on the RFEF website. It read: “After the latest events and the unacceptable behaviours that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football, the presidents request that Mr Luis Rubiales immediately present his resignation as president of the RFEF.
“We will urge the corresponding bodies to carry out a deep and imminent organic restructuring in strategic positions of the federation to give way to a new stage of management in Spanish football.
“We have also urged the president, Pedro Rocha, to immediately withdraw the last communication on behalf of the federation with FIFA and UEFA.”
While not as pressing as the statement from the RFEF, a press conference by the president of the CSD, Victor Francos, indicated where this could yet go.
Last week, his body sent a request to the TAD for a pair of possible violations by Rubiales.
While there has been no response from the TAD, Francos spoke again on Monday. He said the CSD made the request “so that it is dealt with as a very serious fault and that we activate the mechanisms. But we have no news from TAD and we respect their decision. There are those who think that by skipping a rule we can run more, but we must respect.”
There are also fears about what this could mean for Spain’s bid to co-host the 2030 men’s World Cup.
Francos said: “We are doing the right thing. Firstly, to take the decisions we are taking; secondly, that they are communicated publically; and thirdly, to take the diplomatic actions we have to. An hour and a half ago, I spoke with the vice-president of FIFA and in a few hours, I will speak with the president of FIFA. I am convinced we can host the World Cup (in 2030).”
But Francos has acknowledged that he is “concerned”, admitting, “We were better placed for the 2030 World Cup two weeks ago than we are today.”
The protests outside the church in Motril might have generally been in favour of Rubiales, but at the national seat of power, another demonstration was deeply against the president. In Callao Square in Madrid, Spain’s capital, hundreds gathered to show their support for Hermoso and their opposition to Rubiales.
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His mother might have her own sanctuary behind the doors of that church back home, but there is no escaping the situation for her son.
Rubiales insisted last week that he would not resign. On Monday, though, the pressure grew. He was already contending with 81 players saying they would refuse call-ups to the national team if the current RFEF leadership remains in place.
Now, hunger strike or no hunger strike, the gears of Spanish football’s institutions feel as though they are turning against him.
(Top photos: Getty Images: Dermot Corrigan/The Athletic)