Spain and Pachuca star Jenni Hermoso has given a public interview for the first time since the World Cup, speaking to GQ about the dramatic last few months. Hermoso was one of the key protagonists in Spain reaching the pinnacle of women’s sport in August, and yet her face became famous for an entirely different reason when former Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales kissed her without consent.
That kiss travelled the globe, and Hermoso was suddenly thrust into the spotlight, as Rubiales put out several versions of the events, before accusing Hermoso of lying when she said she had not consented to the kiss. Rubiales is currently facing trial for sexual assault and coercion.
Hermoso explained, as carried by Diario AS, that it has been a taxing few months for her.
“These weeks have been very difficult. Also having to tell it over and over again was hurting me a lot. But I know I had to let it go somehow. I continue working on it with the help of my psychologist, who I have been with for many years. For me, mental health is as important as daily training, like the hours I have to sleep to be able to go out on the pitch. Thanks to her I feel strong and I am not broken down or thinking about not wanting to play football anymore. I have not lost my enthusiasm.”
She was also very clear that none of the publicity has been courted for her own gain, but she is willing to make a sacrifice for equality.
“I will never do anything just to make more money. Being able to fight for this [more dignified conditions] is another source of pride and that is where I really want to be noticed. If I have to put my face forward to achieve change, go ahead.”
Hermoso speaking out about the incident, and Rubiales’ subsequent reaction, started social backlash and a movement to recognise women’s voices in Spain, although not all of the coverage has been positive.
“With everything that has happened, I think many of us have become more aware of what the word ‘feminism’ really means, including many friends and family. We, in football, have experienced first-hand the fight for equality. They have called us capricious. It has always been said that we wanted to earn the same as the boys and it was not true. It makes me very angry when they say that women’s football does not generate as much as men’s football. Obviously we know this and we have never asked to get paid like them. We simply wanted the most basic thing: to have a minimum wage, to be respected and to be given the opportunity to do something very great. As soon as we had it, we won a world championship,”
“I think that is why so much reaction has been generated and, specifically, so much damage has been caused to me. I have had to assume the consequences of an act that I did not provoke, that I had not chosen or premeditated. I have received threats, and that is something you never get used to.”
As Hermoso notes, none of this was brought on by herself, and while Rubiales may eventually be punished, so far she has been punished as by the experience through no fault of her own. Given that the Spanish women’s team raised concerns about their environment and the lack of professionalism around them a full year before the World Cup, theirs is a cautionary tale. The front pages of Marca and Diario AS, the two biggest selling sports papers in Spain, called them ‘traitors’ after they went on strike, and a year later, have had to backtrack a long way on that narrative.
