In a statement by the board of speakers, since it is not institutional, as it does not have the consensus of all the deputies of the House, the Parliament of Catalonia has asked this Friday for the resignation of the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, as well as that of the president of the Catalan Federation, Joan Soteras, for his “sexist attitudes”.
The statement condemning the Rubiales case is signed by the groups PSC-Units, ERC, Junts, the CUP and En Comú Podem, which have 120 of the 135 seats, and has not had the support of Vox, which does not support any statement Parliament, nor of Ciudadanos, which has presented an alternative text to which the PP has joined.
The meeting’s statement, read at the end of the plenary session by the second secretary of the Parliamentary Board, Aurora Madaula, from Junts, echoes the controversy unleashed by the kiss on the mouth that Rubiales gave the soccer player from the Spanish team Jennifer Hermoso without her consent, after the women’s World Cup final, in which the Spanish team was proclaimed champion against England.
Rubiales’ attitude is a sign of “abuse of power and sexist violence” and a “worrying demonstration of an outdated, patriarchal and sexist attitude” that “must be eradicated”, reads the majority statement, which, after expressing the support for Hermoso from the signatory groups, expresses “deep indignation at the events” and condemns “these attitudes that must be eliminated” in the world of sport.
The text considers that “both Rubiales and all the other representatives of sports institutions and, specifically, the president of the Catalan Football Federation, Joan Soteras, who have given him their support, should resign from their functions, since with these macho attitudes they will not can represent sports institutions that should have as their objective the fight against sexist violence”.
For its part, Ciudadanos has made a kind of private vote, to which the PP has joined, with the presentation of an alternative statement that has been defended by the group’s spokesperson, Anna Grau, whose objective is that the Rubiales case “does not it is used to instrumentalize women in a sectarian way” nor to convert the Parliament “into the foosball table” of the law of only yes is yes.
For the group chaired by Carlos Carrizosa, the declaration agreed upon by the PSC, ERC, Junts, CUP and the commons feeds “the commotion formed and fueled by the institutions”, for which reason Grau has indicated that these “cannot impose decisions on both sports justice as well as ordinary justice”, which are the ones that should “resolve, without pressure, the facts and the accusations as serious as those exposed”.
For this reason, Ciudadanos has presented an alternative text to the majority statement in which it expresses its support for the champions and its desire that the events that occurred in Australia be clarified, and has demanded that responsibilities be established “as soon as possible.” Likewise, the spokesperson has expressed Ciudadanos’ commitment “to the defense of women’s sports and the dignity of all women in the face of any abuse”, but has clarified that they cannot support a statement that “launders and justifies failed policies and laws such as the of the only yes is yes” and that what happened “cannot serve as a smoke screen to cover other necessities”.
