Luis Rubiales: Spanish FA President Asks for Forgiveness For Appearing to Kiss Jenni Hermoso

• Spanish football federation president, Luis Rubiales courted controversy after he kissed forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips
• His actions led to worldwide outrage and dampened Spain’s World Cup triumph
• Rubiales has since asked for forgiveness for the incident

Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has apologised for kissing World Cup star Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women’s World Cup on Sunday, August 20.

Rubiales courted controversy after he was spotted planting kisses on a number of players from the Spain Women’s team during the presentation ceremony.

The Spaniards edged England 1-0 in the final, with Olga Carmona getting the game's only goal in the 29th minute.

In the wake of the incident, Rubiales received worldwide criticism, including from Spain’s equity minister Irene Montero, who described it as a form of 'violence'.

"We should not assume kissing without consent is something 'that happens'," she said, as quoted on the BBC.

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Hermoso also spoke on the incident on Instagram, where she admitted that she 'did not like it', referring to the kiss.

A later statement from Spain’s all-time goal scorer Hermoso, released by the Spanish Football Federation, said:

"It was a totally spontaneous mutual gesture because of the immense joy that winning a World Cup brings," the 31-year-old forward said.

Rubiales breaks silence

Barely 24 hours after worldwide backlash, Rubiales has been forced into a response. A video was released on Monday, in which the federation president issued a lengthy apology.

In a video shared by @elchiringuitotv on Twitter, Rubiales asked for forgiveness, saying:

"Surely I was wrong, I have to admit it."

"It was without bad faith at a time of maximum effusiveness. Here we saw it natural, but outside a commotion has formed."

Olga reveals meaning behind message

Sports Brief also reported on the meaning behind Spain’s World Cup final match winner Olga Carmonaa’s writing on her compression top.

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The Spanish full-back scored the only goal of the game in a thoroughly entertaining final on Sunday, August 20 after a powerful surge forward to drive a low shot past the England goalkeeper Mary Earps.

There have been conflicting reports on what was the meaning behind the celebration, as it was initially thought that ‘Merchi’ was a dedication to the Spaniard’s former school.