The mother of suspended Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has locked herself in a church and is on a hunger strike in protest of her son’s treatment amid his World Cup kiss controversy, Rubiales’ cousin confirmed to Teledeporte on Monday.
Ángeles Béjar retreated to the church of the Divine Shepherdess in Motril, Andalusia — which is Rubiales’ hometown — along with her sister after its priest had left Monday, EFE reported.
Béjar is “on a hunger strike and does not want to leave the church,” Rubiales’ cousin, Vanessa Ruiz Béjar, said — adding his family is suffering and being harassed on his behalf.
Rubiales was suspended by FIFA for 90 days after he came under fire for kissing Spain forward Jennifer Hermoso following the team’s World Cup victory over England on Aug. 20, a move she said was nonconsensual, “impulsive and sexist.”
Béjar told EFE her protest would continue “indefinitely” until the “inhuman, bloodthirsty witch hunt which my son is being subjected to” concluded.
“There is no sexual abuse since there is consent on both sides, as the images prove,” she said. “My son is incapable of hurting anyone.”
Rubiales, who has insisted the kiss was “mutual and consensual,” has refused to resign in the wake of the situation, threatening legal action against Hermoso and her union, Futpro.
Hermoso has denied that the kiss was consensual and said in a statement she felt like “a victim of aggression, an impulsive act, sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part. In short, I wasn’t respected.”
Rubiales has since elaborated on his recollection of events leading up to the kiss.
“In the moment that Jenni arrived, she lifted me up off the ground,” he said in part Friday, according to ESPN. “We almost fell over. We hugged. I said ‘Forget about the penalty, you’ve been fantastic, we wouldn’t have won the World Cup without you.’ She said: ‘You’re great.’ I said ‘A kiss?’ and she said: ‘Yes.���
“… Justice isn’t being done here. This is a social assassination of me, they’re trying to kill me.”
Spain’s Supreme Sports Council is also seeking to have Rubiales removed as Spanish soccer federation president.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s acting prime minister, called the kiss “an unacceptable gesture.”
Additionally, 55 players on Spain’s women’s national team signed a petition that said they would boycott if Rubiales did not step down from his post.
The petition said in part that the team’s members “want to express their firm and resounding condemnation of behaviors that have violated the dignity of women.”
Rubiales’ cousin hopes he will be “left in peace.”
“We want Jenni to tell the truth,” she said. “Why has she changed her story three times? Our family has been harassed. This woman should tell the truth. Jenni, you should tell the truth. We want Jenni to tell the truth.
“The way they are treating him, the aggression, the feminists, the television, it seems to me shameful. All the people who are taking advantage of the situation, it is shameful.”
A friendly football match called “Friends of Rubiales” in Motril, where Rubiales was set to attend, was canceled Saturday after the local town hall cited fears over public order, according to ESPN.
Following Rubiales’ suspension, the president of Spain’s Women’s Football Committee, Rafael del Amo, along with a number of coaches across the entirety of the country’s women’s soccer program, resigned.
