Rabat – The mother of Luis Rubiales, the disgraced president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, has gone on hunger strike in what observers have described as a desperate attempt to defend her son as he still faces backlash after he kissed a Spanish player following Spain’s Women’s World Cup final win.
Rubiales’s mother, Angeles Bejar, has locked herself in the Divina Pastora church in the Spanish town of Motril to protest against the “inhuman hunt” her son has faced since controversially kissing on the lips Spanish forward Jenni Hermoso, she told the Spanish news agency EFE in an interview over the weekend.
As Hermosso said that the infamous kiss during the post-game ceremony was not consensual, Rubiales has been the target of serious hate messages. Taking to social media to lash out at what they described as scandalous behavior, several football fans, activists, and politicians asked Rubiales to resign.
With her hunger strike, which she told EFE would continue “indefinite, day and night,” Bejar said she is hoping to protest against, and eventually put an end to the “inhumane and bloody hunting that they are doing with my son with something he does not deserve.”
The mother added she will remain in confinement at the Divina Pastora church until justice is served to her son who has been suspended by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee from all football-related activities.
“Tell the truth” was Angeles Bejar’s message to Jenni Hermoso, with Rubiales’s mother suggesting that the Spanish forward appeared to have consented to the kiss but later changed her story when the incident became a cause celebre for activists and feminist organizations.
“There is no sexual abuse as there is consent on both sides, as shown in the images,” Bejar said, adding: “Why are they being so cruel to him” since according to her “He [her son] is incapable of harming anyone.”
Read also: Rubiales Refuses to Resign Over World Cup Kiss, Slams ‘False Feminism’
