Spain Players Stage 'It's Over' Protest After Kiss Scandal: Details Here

At the Women's National League, the Spanish and Sweden women's football teams stood together in a pre-match protest holding the banner reading Se Acabó "It's Over" while England and Scotland teams also showed their support by wearing white wristbands that read Se Acabó. 

The protest was against sexism in the sport after the kissing scandal that unfolded at the finale of the Women's Football World Cup 2023. For the unversed, post the winning performance of the Spanish women's football team, then-chief Luis Rubiales kissed champion player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.

'It's Over' Protest

The incident created a global outrage and surfaced many loopholes in the Spanish Federation and how it treats women in sports. Rubiales rendered his resignation to the federation days after his act caused a stir in the world of sports.

On September 22, the world champions returned to the game at the National Football League for the first time after the scandal. The Spanish team and their Swedish opponents held a pre-match protest holding a banner that read Se Acabó, which translates to "It's Over". The line under it read, "Our fight is the global fight." 

The 22 team members from both teams held the banner in solidarity highlighting the struggle of women players against chauvinism and sexual assault and asking for equality between men and women. 

The Spanish players also raised their hands right before starting the game displaying their white wristbands with the same slogan as their protest Se Acabó while some other's wristbands simply read Jenny or her jersery number 10. 

England and Scotland's teams also showed their support for the Spanish football team and their protest as the two sets of players wore white wristbands with #SeAcabó before their match.

Nine of 23 Spanish players refused to play in the team after the Rubiales scandal demanding profound changes in the Spanish Football Federation. The Spanish team also threatened to boycott the National Football League match against Sweden on Friday but the protest was called off as the Spanish FA promised it would make immediate and profound changes in its structure. 

The boycott only ended when the Spanish government intervened to shape an agreement between players and the federation. However, two players Mapi Len and Patri Guijarro opted to step out of the team and left the training camp. 

The Spanish FA also removed its Secretary General Andreu Camps after the women's team called off their protest promising them to create a 'safe environment.' 

The Match

On Friday, at the National football league tournament against Sweden, the world champions won the game by 3-2 after Mariona Caldentey converted a penalty in their favour in an extra six minutes of their added time. Eva Navarro and Athenea del Castillo also helped the Spanish team to secure goals in their incredible kick-offs defeating the Swedish team. 

However, Jenni Hemoso was not called into the match by the new team coam Montse Tome to "protect her." 

The Spanish coach said this victory was positive as it would manage to make everyone forget the days the team had. 

Suggested Reading: Boundaries And Consent: Lessons From The Luis Rubiales Case