BECCY COTTERILL: I think his statement this evening
was really interesting.
I'll explain a bit more why in a second.
But let me just tell you some of what he said in that statement.
He said that these events have been a real nonsense
and tarnished a well-deserved victory for our players
and our country.
He also condemned any macho attitude.
On the surface, that's kind of broadly in line
with what everyone has been saying
about Luis Rubiales's behavior.
However, Jorge Vilda, the head coach
of the Women's National Team, is a big ally of Rubiales's.
And he himself has had his own dispute with some
of the players in the past.
Rob was referencing it in his report there.
It was almost a year ago now.
Players were speaking out about his management style,
the atmosphere he was creating, and talking about the impact
it was having on their emotional and physical well-being.
What was the response from the Spanish FA at the time?
Well, the women were threatened with not
being selected for games and told to apologize
for having misspoken.
Of course then, as until very recently,
Luis Rubiales was the head of the Spanish FA.
Fast-forward to what's going on now
with this nonconsensual kiss with Jenni Hermoso,
and it's quite a different story.
The Spanish FA did try to take quite
a similar approach initially, threatening Jenni
Hermoso with legal action.
But there has been quite a big backlash to all.
Of course, the situation now is very different.
Many people will not have heard of that dispute
between Jorge Vilda and the women's team last year.
This has got a lot of publicity.
Everyone's seen that picture of Luis
Rubiales grabbing Jenni Hermoso around the head
and kissing her.
And there has been a big backlash.
And of course now, Luis Rubiales has been suspended.
And I think for him personally, there's not really
any coming back from this when it comes to his leadership
at the Spanish FA.
You've got the Spanish government concerned not least
about how all this looks when it comes to Spain's
bid for the 2030 World Cup.
We've now got people calling for kind
of wider reform of the management and the team
around the Spanish national women's squad.
But I think this is also a kind of moment--
we talk about MeToo moments following
what happened in Hollywood.
I think this is a moment not just
for the Spanish women's team.
I think it's a moment for women's sport
and for Spanish society more generally, following kind
of protests in recent years around sexual violence
and reforms that have been made by the government
around gender equality.