Spain defeated England, 1-0, on Sunday to win the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
A kiss is just a kiss, except when it isn’t.
Spain’s head of soccer apologized Monday after trying to defend the cringeworthy kiss he placed on Jenni Hermoso during the Women’s World Cup ceremony on Sunday.
Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales received severe backlash after kissing Hermoso on the lips following Spain’s 1-0 win to clinch the country’s first Women’s World Cup title.
It didn’t help that Rubiales’ initial reaction to the criticism was to call those condemning him “idiots.”
In his video mea culpa Monday, Rubiales tried to walk it back by taking ownership for his blunder.
“I made a mistake, for sure,” Rubiales said in the video, according to ESPN.
“I have to accept it. In a moment of such emotion, without any bad intention or bad faith, what happened, happened, in a very spontaneous way. [There was] no bad faith from either side.
“Here we saw it as something natural and normal. But on the outside it has caused a stir, because people have felt hurt by it, so I have to apologize; there’s no alternative. I have to learn from this and understand that a president of an institution as important as the federation — above all in ceremonies and that kind of thing — should be more careful.
