Atletico Madrid Manager Diego Simeone has joined the almost universal condemnation of RFEF President Luis Rubiales, following his non-consensual kiss of Jenni Hermoso eight days ago.
Rubiales appeared to see nothing wrong with his actions at first, and looked as if he would resign, but instead has dug his heels in and looks as if he will maintain that the kiss was indeed consensual.
However every manager in La Liga has been asked about the incidents, and all have expressed concern over his behaviour. Simeone became the latest ahead of their match against Rayo Vallecano on Monday night, as Cadena SER documented.
“After a week, a lot of people have spoken. I am with what 80, 90 percent of society thinks. Incorrect behaviour for the president of a federation, the image above all going out to the rest of the world, and a shame that all the good that the girls did at the World Cup, which was truly exciting, was forgotten.”
“We have spent the whole week talking about this, and we have left to one side the magnificent thing that the girls have achieved.”
However Simeone’s words will not have struck a chord with everyone. Andorra Manager Eder Sarabia called out the language on Friday, before Simoene spoke, that many in Spain use when talking about football as misogynistic, including what he called the condescending use of the word girls to talk about women. He also talked about similarly problematic phraseology such as ‘a man’s game’ or needing to have ‘balls’.
🙌🏻 El fútbol masculino empieza a despertar.
La reflexión más profunda de Eder Sarabia, entrenador del Andorra.
💬 “Hemos normalizado ciertas cosas que luego es un caldo de cultivo que nos lleva a ese machismo que subyace por ahí”.
📽️ @/ fcandorra pic.twitter.com/xW9yt5C4cj
— Relevo (@relevo) August 26, 2023
Naturally, Simeone’s intention was not to deprecate on the Spain side, but it is a topic rarely raised in Spanish football about the language used, especially concerning the women’s game. Given the cultural impact across Spain of the Rubiales scandal, they are conversations that might not be too far away.
