September 11, 2023 • 37 mins
As Spain lifted the Women's World Cup trophy in Sydney, a non-consensual kiss was the dark cloud that hung over La Roja's monumental achievement. Now, the game is facing a reckoning for the treatment of Jenni Hermoso and her teammates. This week, the backstory, the fallout and the future of Spanish football.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Two Good Sports would like to acknowledge the traditional owners
of the land on which we record this podcast. That
will rundery people. This land was never seated, always was,
always will be. Hello and welcome to two Good Sports
Sports news told differently.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm Georgie Tourney and I'm Abbe Jelmy and George. What
a week it's been. What a week.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
On today's show, Laroha Rubiales and the reckoning for Spanish football.
Just how a kiss unmasked the ugliness of the.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Beautiful game and what it all means, what it all means.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
There's so many developments on this we take you through
each and everything that happened.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
It's going to be a feature film. It really has
to be.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
The dramas the twist that turned the starving mother in
a church. There are layers, There are so many layers.
But more the point, we want to break down how
such a powerful man at the head of a massive
institution has tumbled and what it all means now But
for now headlines headline one every time, every time, every
(01:10):
time I watched the Swans, the Swans of last two
every what those are the dulcin tones of Robbie Williams
arguably one of the best Grand Final performances of all time,
and giving his feedback after the Swans were beaten by
the Blues because he's a carltonman, George, what do you mean?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
He's a Carlton manal known fact.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Of course, he gave the stellar performance in the pink
suit at last year's Grand Final. Michael Foster smuggled his
way into the mcg and just gave mcguernsey and he went,
I like you, you're a rule breaker. I'm a bluesman
and has for some reason decided he's going to upload
that video about the Swans just dragging them after the
performance in last year's Grandfather But that.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Kind of genius that's led the Blues to this final series.
As someone who hasn't watched like that much AFL growing up,
I do not see Carlton as a winning team except
for now. I don't see them winning. I don't know
how they do this, but now I'm calling them flag favorite.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And more the point people didn't during the year there
was calls for Michael Voss to stand down. Everyone was going,
oh my god, we're in the premiership window and why
isn't this happening?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And they've just turned it around, so.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
They're one of the stories. But the main talking point
from the AFL this weekend happened in the huge Melbourne
clash with Collingwood the Pies one. Melbourne has to face
Carlton next week. But it was a moment between Braidon
Maynard and Angus Brayshaw that has everyone talking. This was
Simon Goodwin.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
After the game. That'll be sorted out during the week,
but we've got a pretty shattered player in there. Yeah, look,
you can only go by the facts. He jumped off
the ground and knocked the guy out.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
So Maynard has been sent directly to the tribunal for
an unprecedented intervention. That was by new AFL footy boss
Laura Caine, so she's gone. This needs to go straight
to the tribunal, which usually means a minimum of three
weeks suspension. And this has Puris up in arms, essentially
saying what happened and the incident will describe it. He
went up for the smother braced and in the brace
(03:05):
because he was in mid air, knocked him and Angus
Brayshaw has been concussed so much so that he's in
questions for the rest of the final series awful for Brayshaw,
and Maynard rocked up at his house with a bottle
of wine to say sorry because they played geniors together.
But this is such a pivotal moment in AFL going
forward because if this was a football action, he was
(03:28):
going to smother the ball and then he braced in
mid air. There was nothing when you watch, there's no
malicious intent. There's really nothing else you can do. He's
just Maynard's a sort of player that just gives his all.
Should this result in his suspension and that he misses
finals football for this?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes, yes it should. It's so interesting to me it should,
it should. It's so interesting to me this debate. I
think that you say that it's a football act, yep,
I think that he has He could have done so
many different things there. He just made wrong choice. So
therefore it has to be careless, it has to be reckless,
and so therefore there has to be a suspension. So
(04:06):
I think both of their finals footy is over see.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I just think when you watch something in slow motion,
so many times you think, oh, could have done this
could in the moment you just brace for impact.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
But then the impact that impact and the consequences of
that impact has to be taken into account. Laura Kane,
the new football boss, would not be getting involved in
this if there was not going to be a penalty,
or if the AFL did not want there to be
a penalty.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And unfortunately it's a contact sport.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
But that's something that the purists they're going to have
to get over a little bit. You've got to give
some leeway here. The AFL is wide open for all
of these class actions that are happening right now. They
have to be seen as taking this seriously. And I
just do not see how Maynard can play again for
the Pies this year.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's a watch and weight on this one.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
We have so many experts and former players coming out
and saying there is no way that he can get
suspended for it. But like you said, George, if the
game is going to be seen to be taking CT
and concussion seriously, there needs to be a change in
the style of play and maybe this becomes the turning point.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Headline two uses the monkey is back and the.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Beanie is on Georgia's head because the Broncos have finally
beaten Storm.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Welcome to the finals, baby, Yes, the last time.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That the Brisbane Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm in Brisbane.
Reese Walsh was seven years old. Now he scores a
try to help us to a twenty six nil victory
and make it straight through to the prelim final. The
Penrith Panthers also massive win. I think was thirty two six.
Very dominant display against the Warriors, the Raiders and the Sharks.
They were eliminated in really tight games. But the Brisbane
(05:56):
Broncos we're coming home.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
But Ryan Pappenhausen, Oh, it was awful.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
There's some stories in sport where you just go some
things aren't fair.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yes, yes, So for context, dear listener, Ryan Pappenhausen, in
his third game back after four hundred and five days
away from the game that he loves so much, the
Melbourne Storm Superstar Fullback, he goes down. It was friendly fire.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
A sofa.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Solomona, who was the biggest man I have ever seen
in real life, fell onto Pappenhausen's ankle broke it.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
It was awful scenes.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
You just knew straight away just his reaction. He was screaming,
he was crying, he was bawling on the ground because
his whole career was flashing through his mind, which is
what he would have had every single day for the
last year by trying to get back from a shattered
kneecap was his last injury, and now to have such
a bad break on the ground at the time, people
(06:51):
were calling it a compound fracture. That is not the case,
which is great news. However, he still had six screws
and a plate put in to his ankle in an
operation over the weekend, but hopefully he may be back
training or starting his rehab at the end of January,
which is massively so distraught, he was so sad it was.
(07:11):
It was honestly just such an awful moment and the sport.
It was just a reminder that sport can be so
cruel because you'd be so unlucky to have one of
those injuries, let alone to potentially career ending injuries in
the space of two and a half years.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
We know the storm more wonderful in terms of the
club as an institution supporting their players and they'll get
around him, but our thoughts are certainly with him, and
you just you don't like to see it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
It's awful, awful. Headline number three A little Hailey Rasso,
you star, the ribbons are flying. Why wouldn't it be?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Grandma would be so proud because she and Sam Kerr
have been nominated for the Bell and Door And the
question is is this finally, finally the.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Year for Sam Kerr. She's been nominated five times, five times.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I don't think it is to best all of our bubbles.
She obviously is our favorite player here in Australia, she's
one of the most favorite players overseas as well. But
I just think it's again not her time. There are
so many stars in women's football. We know her because
she's ours. I don't think she's going to do it.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
How dare you?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I know it?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And thirty on Sunday George Parade.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I'm sorry, Sam, I'm sorry better than that, but it's
great to see Rastlom nominated.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
He was about to say exciting times headline ful.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
Honestly, thank you to the people who didn't believe in me.
Like a month ago I won a five hundred title
and people said I went stop at that. Two weeks
ago I won a thousand title and people were saying
that was the biggest it was going to get. So
three were like three weeks later, I'm here with this
trophy right now, so you know, I've tried my best
(09:05):
to carry this for Grace, and I've been doing my best.
So honestly, to those who thought who were putting water
on my fire, you're really adding gas to it. And
now I'm really burning so.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Bright right now, the brightest star maybe in world sport,
but definitely in tennis at the moment, ten year old
Coco Gough, Is.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That not one of the most American speeches you've ever heard? Though,
I'm going to take this with grace, but I'm burning
so bright right now. You tried to squash me, but
here I am.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But good on her, good on.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
And there's a beautiful, beautiful footage of her when she
was knee high to a grasshopper dancing at the US Open.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I know, and now she's one man, and now she's
won it.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
And there's something about those moments and you get flashbacks
of little ash Barty with a little trophy and those
chubby cheeks where it's been their dream and with tennis,
it has to have been their dream for so long,
and she finally did it.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
God, I miss Ash Barty, but yes, Cocoa Goff defeated
Arena Sabalanka in the US Open final. She was down
a set, she fought back to win the next to
in two hours and six minutes. And she is only
the third American team to win the US Open, after
Tracy Austin and a little known name siRNA Williams.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Whatever happened to her?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, God, she never really went on to do that much.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Savlenka her consolation prizes. She's number one in the world.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Oh yes, that's right, she is. And she is number one,
and she's also and I mean this with all due respect,
she is a beast. I saw her win the Australian Open.
Her career is fine. She'll be sad after this. She
do's herself off and she'll be back.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
As we go to air, we don't want to give
away when we record very secret, very secret. But ah,
if the men's final is happening, we're not ignoring it.
It's just happening right now. Djokovic wants to fight for
the right to party. If you've seen that grab, If
you haven't, just google it. It's very interesting. But the
fight is happening right now.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Gold be interesting up against Medvedev. I don't think Medvedev
has the legs. We'll back next week.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
I think he's won.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Jokovic, shut up.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
He won in record time.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Producer James sid James come through with the breaking Okay,
We're gonna now play the fight to the I'm gonna
find it.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Fight for the right to party. It's happening right now.
You gotta fight for all right to far.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
To understand football in Spain is to understand life in Spain.
That is how seriously all Spaniards take their national game.
Football dictates the mood of the nation, the economic prosperity
of the nation. Indeed, you could say it even reflects
the politics of the nation. That is no exaggeration. Titanic
(11:44):
Lalliga teams think the Spanish EPL. It is a gigantic league,
but for listeners who may not know about the football world,
LaLiga is like the English Premier League. Barcelona and Real
Madrid are two teams that belong to that league. They
have a combined worth of eleven billion US dollars. That's
a trillion Australian dollars. Don't fact check me, but that's
(12:05):
basically the conversion. So they represent two of the top
three most valuable sporting clubs on Earth. So it may
sound dramatic, but it could actually be an understatement to
say that Spaniards live for football and by default for
their favorite players, even for their mediocre ones. Enter Louis Rubiales.
(12:31):
He was born in the Canary Islands in nineteen seventy seven.
Rubiales grew up loving soccer, as the majority of his
country does. It took him a while to find his
feet though jelmy. As a professional player. He only made
it to the second div I think in the latter
stages of his twenties, and most of his career was
played there. Before his side, Levante was promoted to the
(12:52):
top tier La Liga in two thousand and four. He
played fifty three matches for them there from four to
eight Interesting while he was in that team, he led
industrial action against that club over unpaid wages. So he
was leading a strike that union spirit stuck and after
(13:12):
he retired in two thousand and nine at the age
of thirty two, he became the president of the Spanish
Footballers Association. In this role, Rubiali's made very powerful friends
both on and off the field. It led him to
his current role spoiler. His previous current role head of
the rf EF, the Spanish football federation. In May twenty eighteen,
(13:37):
he marked himself really as a president who was unafraid
to make big decisions at big moments. He fired the
men's national coach two days before the twenty eighteen World
Cup they failed to make the final sixteen. He's moved
Spanish competitions to Saudi Arabia for big, big paydays, despite
the country's poor human rights record. He's also the vice
president former vice president of UEFA, the governing body for
(14:01):
European football. For context, some argue that you Wafer has
even more power than FIFA. So all that that means
is he is a monumental figure in the game of football,
not just in Spain but over the world. During his tenure,
Rubiales was accused of misusing federation funds for private parties,
(14:22):
making illicit recordings of confidential conversations, and having a general
apathy towards women's football.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Because you speak about rubial as being someone who wasn't
afraid to make bold moves and change coaches before international tournaments, well,
the plight of fifteen female players who wrote a letter
to the federation saying, hey, this juge builder. We don't
want to play for him. He's affecting our mental and
our physical wellbeing. Some of the complaints were as yuck
(14:51):
as the fact that they weren't allowed to lock their
doors while on camps, but extended to the fact that
he wasn't playing the rotations as highly as they would
have liked, so different weren't getting.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Off the sties.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It's like it's stems both on field. They had on
field issues with him in terms of tactics. They had
bulk off field issues with w Wilda in terms of
how he was running the team and the expectations that
he had for them.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And Rubielle said, do you know who we like Wilda?
So Wilda stays. So twelve of those players never featured
in the World Cup.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
George, Yeah, twelve of them. That's massive. And despite all
of that, that's a brief backstory. We've tried to truncate
it as much as possible because there's so much to
talk about. But despite all of that, a month ago,
no one outside of football circles really knew the name
Lewis Rubiali's a kiss though on a stage in our
(15:42):
own backyard Sydney changed everything. Jeremy paint the scene for me.
Spain has just won the Women's World Cup one nil
over England. They go to accept their trophies. You and
I are watching, We're watching, the world is watching. It's
a wonderful moment at the end of a tournament that
to this point, particularly in Australia, has been oh soo
(16:04):
feel good. You're excited about the moment for women's sport,
You're excited about the viewership in the numbers. Then enters
onto the stage, a stage that has our own indignitaries,
including Anthony have an easy Jenny Homoso for context.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Homoso is a thirty three year old forward. She's represented
Spain from seventeen years old. Wow, that was back in
two thousand and six. She has a decorated career with
top Spanish European clubs. Are talking Barcelona PSG and also
Athletico Madrid.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
This is not her first rodeo.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
She gets onto the stage and there is a moment
that is broadcast that everyone just goes gosh, that's uncomfortable
because Rubiellas can be seen with both hands either side
of Jennie Homoso's head where he kisses her and it.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Just felt wrong.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Also, during the celebrations of that triumph for Spain, Rubiellas
can be seen grabbing his crutch yep in celebration.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
With the Queen of Spain not far away next to.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Her sixteen year old daughter.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, so this is the sort of bloke that we're
dealing with. That at a women's sporting game or any
sporting game, the way that he celebrates his by grabbing
his generals sounds real.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Stand up.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
The world watches that and goes, oh, that was uncomfortable.
That was a bit weird, And in a live stream
after the game, Jenny Moso says, yeah, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Like it, but what are you gonna do? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
The Spanish Football Federation then the next day brings out
a statement saying Homoso said, oh, you know, it was consensual.
It was basically it was swept up in a moment
and what you saw was joy and celebration.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
But definitely mutual joy and celebration. That's how it was painted.
That is what the statement said.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Turns out Jenny Moso didn't consent to any statement and
they were not her words.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Rubiales initially George apologized for the kiss. This is really
important because initially after he described his critics as idiots,
he said there was a conversation that took place where
the kiss was consented to. He also really tried to
stress the fact that Jenny picked him up.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
That was really weird.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
There were so many articles that I saw at the
time being like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it has
to be consensual. Jenny actually embraces him and lifts him up,
so therefore it's a green light.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Essentially, he sort of gave one of those stories that
was like, I'm sorry if I offended you, but I'm
not sorry for what I done. So it was done
without any ill intention in a moment of highest exuberance.
What we saw was a natural, normal, no outside commotion,
like we just you know, and described it as I
kissed her the way that I.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Would kiss my daughters. Yeah. Not great.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Back home in Spain, one hundreds protest against Rubala's essentially
having seen the moment, being embarrassed about the way that
it's been spoken about internationally, saying that he needs to
stand down. Joining that chorus is the Spanish Prime Minister
who says, I think the apology mister Rubalees has given
was insufficient. I'd say it wasn't adequate, and that he
(18:53):
should keep taking further steps.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
I mean, that's that's pretty big. We should stress that
imput from the government of Spain that they are getting
into this, because I think it's important to note that
some of the commentary around what's happened, and especially in
the fallout from the kiss, the unsolicited kiss, is that, oh,
(19:16):
it's cultural, that's what happens in Spain. They're just different
from us. They get very excited, that's what it is.
But I think that that is a cop out, and.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
It is because gratefully the world is talking about this,
and there are Spanish journalists and Spanish football journalists that
are female and or male saying no, and you might
see back and go, is that cultural? Is that just
how it is? Yes, they might be more affectionate than
some Western cultures, but to be grabbed like that and
kissed like that when it wasn't consensual in any context,
(19:48):
particularly in a workplace. It's an extraordinary workplace, but it
was her workplace where he is her boss's boss. Consent
has layers to it. Yes, and our gut feeling of
this isn't right?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Was right?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Because Jennihimoso then came out with the help of her union,
essentially with a long statement that she released on the
twenty fifth of August on Twitter saying I've been disrespected.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I did not consent this. People are saying this on
my behalf. I felt violated. This is not okay.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And ironically that's the same union that Rubiales used to lead.
So that is how powerful this figure is in the
context of Spanish football. He has been at the helm
of very powerful institutions within it. He's been on the
boards of a million things. So for that institution itself,
the system to back the player instead of him.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Is huge, you say, the system. FIFA then comes out
and opens a case against Ribale's.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Because at this point Rubiali still has a.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Job very much so yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
He then comes out in one of the most extraordinary
press conferences you'll ever see and chance I will not resign.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
Nod no boiimid no no boy me.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Seems to be quite a bit of applause there at
the end of it, so obviously his speech, this spectacular speech,
was well received by the people in the room.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
The speech went on to say a social assassination is
taking place. I'm ready to be vilified to defend my ideals.
I don't deserve this manhunt that I've been suffering.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Suffering suffering interesting choice of words, yep.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
And the Spanish government later said they're beginning legal proceedings
against Rubalas, and the Spanish secretary says they want this
to be Spanish football's me too moment. So the big
dogs are getting involved. You've got FIFA, you've got the government,
and all through this, Rubales is standing there saying I
didn't do it. In the meantime, eighty one Spanish players,
(21:50):
including Homoso's triumpher teammates, have all said that they won't
play for the country.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And now a movement is growing that the Spanish government
themselves seem to be embraced, let alone the Spanish people
and all the football fans around the world. Their reactions
to it have largely been in support of Jenny Homoso,
but still not enough so that Rubials was like, yeah,
you're right, guys, not good from me, so sorry.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
FIFA suspends Rubalas for ninety days and says that you're
not all out of contact Jenny Homoso's.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Team, which is wild for FIFA to be getting into
wars when it comes to you know, moral high ground.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Oh hey, Wilda then goes, oh no, oh no, I've
seen applauding this bloke at a press conference where he
said he's going to pay me five hundred thousand euros
instead of one hundred and forty thousand euros that I
was on and has offered me a new job.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
This doesn't smell good.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I need to come out and essentially say I regret
deeply that the victory of the Spanish women's football team
has been harmed by the inappropriate behavior of up until
now top leader Robales.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
So he comes out and says, oh, I don't know
how I feel that.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
And there's layers to that as well, right, because Wilda
and Rubyale have had each other's backs, but the best
part of a decade, like as soon as Juge Wilda
took up the coaching job of La Roha in twenty
fifteen or so Rubiali's becomes president in twenty eighteen, they've
always kind of been like, don't you worry, I've forgot you. Yeah,
(23:16):
I've got you. So there are layers to this. So
for Wilda to come out and say, oh yeah, actually
maybe a bit inappropriate, huge.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
When the bloke had just very publicly offered you a
massive pay rise and lauded you and had you back
and supported you to that moment.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
This is the bit.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
That made morning television hell television around the world. His
mum decided to lock herself in a church and go
on our hunger st went on a hunger strike, and
Jess said, my son.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
My poor son, Louis, my poor son.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Jenny, tell the truth. I am not eating until this
is done. And can you believe it? Three days later
she was taken the hospital by a priest.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
It's honestly so unbelievable everything that has happened.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
And yet that is the part that was spoken about
on breakfast television this morning. They said, Loos Robialis has
stood down, and someone goes, didn't his mom starve herself?
And that's the bit that cut through and bizarrely she
was trying to get an end to the drama and
my god that she perpetuated.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, because all of this are further.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Headlines that the world can talk about and highlight of
going gee, this is FIFA standing him down, his mum's fasting,
what's happening? If he had just come out and done
what so many people do and paid lip service and said,
you know what, I've had time to reflect. I'll receive counseling.
The kiss wasn't right. The world goes away and the
(24:40):
pressure doesn't mount on Spanish football to need to do
something about this the way.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
That it has.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
But thankfully he couldn't because for whatever reason, he believes
so deeply in himself that he's done nothing wrong, even
though the victim has said, I've been vilified, You've taken
a moment from me that I'll never get back. This
isn't right, and the world's going, yeah, mate, this isn't right.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
And then Wilda get sacked.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
So he's claiming that he's going to defend his unfair dismissal.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Jeez.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
It's interesting though, because I mean, now, with events that
have happened even since that which we're about to get to,
it did kind of reek at the time of is
the wrong person standing down here? Is he the sacrificial lamb?
I am not defending how he has behaved in the past, Wilda,
I'm not defending his actions. He has been a very
(25:35):
controversial figure for a long time with Larroha, but at
that point his whole coaching staff had already stepped down
in protest, that already said we do not support what
is going on at the football Federation.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
As had all of his players, but he hadn't.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
But he hadn't. He was like, this is fine, this
is I am here to reap the rewards of what
I've just been able to.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Lead the team too.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
At that time he could have been seen the sacrificial
lamb because Rubiales, yes had been stood down from FIFA
for ninety days a temporary suspension, but was the wrong
person going This morning, Jelmy, we woke up to some
pretty big news Lewis Rubiales talking to Piers Morgan announcing
(26:20):
he is stepping down as the president of the Football
Federation of Spain because his position has become untenable. Not
that he's necessarily sorry for the actions and everything that
he has done, but he is unable to continue in
the role because the noise around it has just become
too loud and not good for the game, the greater game.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
You've come under ferocious pressure for three weeks now on you,
on your family. It's been very difficult for your daughters,
the young girls. I can only imagine as a father myself,
I have a daughters, and around the age of one
of your girls credibly difficult. There comes a point, perhaps
when the pressure is just so relent relentless, that you
(27:07):
do think about what you should do with yourself and
your future. Many people think you should resign as president.
What are you going to do?
Speaker 7 (27:18):
I love so much my daughters, and they love me
so so much. Time very happy, I'm very proud of them,
very very proud of then they are very near to
me about magnation, Yes, I'm going to do.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
I'm going.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
Yeah, I'm going to Yes. Course I cannot continue my work.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
If I hear one more man in power use having
daughters as a character reference as to why their behavior
is more exemplary than other people's. I am going to
write like I.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Just it's giving Schmo. If asked Jenny, he even he.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Is saying I have a daughter, You have daughters to
preface this conversation about an unconsensual kiss is so nauseating
and at the crux of this entire problem.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I would say that Lewis Ribiali is as far as
he is concerned. I don't know the man personally, but
I think that I can say, it's safe to assume
that he would feel like he's not done anything wrong here.
It's the first time I think that he has had
true accountability to face. He felt like he was just
(28:34):
so excited at the time. That's how he celebrates that
he was showing his love for this team. And I
think that that's the narrative that he is going to
have to reckon with himself now that he is no
longer in this position. He's also stepped down from being
vice president of YUEFA.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
He's also being prosecuted.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Yeah, yeah, Jenny and Moso has sought legal action and
Spanish state prosecutors have accused him of sexual assault and coercion.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yes, and with charges at the time of this recording,
that with charges expected to be laid. Criminal charges.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
So with that statement that we just heard comes the
follow up from that interview where he says, I will
defend my honor, I will defend my innocence. I have
faith in my future. It's a goal. The powers that
be have made it so difficult. I cannot continue my work.
This is a witch hunt. I have daughters. I'm thinking
(29:32):
of them. It's not that this is getting so loud.
I have to step away and reflect.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
There's no I don't think there's too much self reflection here.
It's him falling on his sword. But what we must
remember is the sword is of his making and also
representative of a system that has, I think shown a
lot of misogyny, are very misogynistic system in Spain.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
The irony of this whole story loop is this kiss
is a good thing because without the kiss, Spanish female
footballers had tried, as the head of FIFA had said,
pick your battles, push the doors. They had picked their battles.
(30:23):
They were pushing the doors to try to convince us men,
as were so eloquently.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Described by Gianni Infantino, what.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
Changes needed to be made, and twelve of them were
stood down. And now because of the world's attention on
this kiss, which is horrendous and we hope that justice
is served for Jenny Homoso, but because of it, the
world is looking at an institution and saying, hang on,
(30:53):
this isn't okay. And those people, the institution and the
buddies that all took care of each other one by
one have fallen from pressure from the government itself. But
the pressure from the government only comes when the world
is looking in saying what are you doing about it?
Speaker 1 (31:09):
If you want to be a global game, you have
to have global eyes on you, right. And if there's
a lot of global scrutiny following this and it goes,
oh hang on, that doesn't add up, then could there
have been a different result here? I don't really think so.
I just think that it took a very long time
for Rubiales to step down.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
I put this to you. Do you still feel joyous
about the Women's World Cup?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Yes I do. I do because I hate to say
that it is a good moment. But the positives that
can be taken away from the kiss is that Spain
now has a new coach. It's a female coach, Monts Matome.
She is a former player for Spain. She had a
few caps for Spain, but she played a lot of football,
including at Levante. Ironically a lot of football, and she
(31:57):
knows the players very well. Apparently she has a really
good relayationship with them. I put an asterisk on her
because she was part of Wilda's regime, so she was
his deputy, so she was there throughout all of the
complaints as well. So would she have been hamstrung by
what she could have done as a deputy, I have
no doubt, but I'm hopeful that having her now as
(32:19):
their head coach, and hopefully she does have that good
relationship with the players, that there may be a little
bit more of a dialogue happening between those parties. So
I take that away as a positive thing. I take
away it being positive because it's raised these conversations into
the wider culture within Spain, and it's also a reminder
(32:39):
that yes, the Matildas have made so much ground and
it was world changing for us here in Australia, but
there's still so much to be done when it comes
to I want to say equality, but even just accountability
and belief.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
There's a lot of commentary around not just women's football,
but women's sport of just playing. Why do you always
have to have agendas? Why do you always have to campaign?
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Just play?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Hopefully this is a step towards what all female athletes
want to do, which is just play sport.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Jelmy, you know what, dam it is. It's time for
another fun fact. As we know you may not know,
dear listener, but the Rugby World Cup is happening right
now overseas in France. Gelmy brace yourself for this. Did
you know that Ireland is a number one team no
currently in the world, in the world rugby standings, Island
is number one.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Not the lie.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Do you know where the All Blacks sit? No, it
goes Ireland Spring box, France, All Blacks.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
No wonder the kiwis have been quiet. We hadn't heard
much from across the ditch for a while and now
this makes sense?
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Right?
Speaker 1 (33:59):
And did you even know what's in more shocking? That's
not even our fun fact. I was just telling you.
I was just getting me an update. What's happening right now?
Speaker 3 (34:06):
For context? I don't know what the fun fact is.
And George said, don't look, And I believe that was
the fun fact because that shocks me.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Did you know that the Rugby World Cup has one
of the most random traditions that I have seen. They
have a ceremonial whistle that they have been using to
launch the first game of the competition for most, if
not all, editions of the World Cup. They have a
(34:34):
mangy old whistle from nineteen oh five. It is a
very important piece of supporting history. But as I apologize,
everyone who loves the gil Evans whistle.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
But is it wooden?
Speaker 1 (34:45):
It's no, it's actually it's metal, but it's rusty.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
But is the little ball that moves around wooden?
Speaker 1 (34:50):
That? I don't know that because I'm confirmed unconfirmed growth
on that theme, like I just can't. So Apparently in
nineteen oh five, the first rugby game but between England
and New Zealand, a Welsh referee named Gil Evans used
this whistle and he used it to officiate all of
his matches. Then after that he bestowed it like a
baton to another Welsh referee, and then he used it
(35:14):
throughout his career and since then it has been used
since the World Cup to start the first game. Did
you also know that this is how Bonker's tradition is
with respect? That whistle is passed around like an Olympic
torch relay and eventually goes on these travels and eventually
ends up in the host nation for the Rugby World Cup.
(35:36):
So just think you can't be telling me that you
have that whistle and every single person that you meet
along that journey ain't blown it.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Is it like the Melbourne Cup? Or you need to
weg gloves and only if you are a referee. Are
you allowed to blow on them?
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (35:52):
I have so many questions.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
It is actually and to be serious, it is revolting.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
You're sorry, fun fact, tradition, steep, lovely, all of those things,
some old hundred year old communal mouthpiece that for some
reason survived COVID.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
They're still using that.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
I was really drugged. You know what. It's giving rose
from Titanic.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
And you know what the whistle was around.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
That's it for our fun fact this week. That's also
for our show today.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
It's the final whistle.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
If you will, thank you, thank you for listening to
Good Sports this week.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
We better go. We've lost it. We've officially lost it.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
We'll see you next week, or you'll hear us next
week however you want to play it.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
But until then, be a good sport.
Two Good Sports would like to acknowledge the traditional owners
of the land on which we record this podcast. That
will rundery people. This land was never seated, always was,
always will be. Hello and welcome to two Good Sports
Sports news told differently.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm Georgie Tourney and I'm Abbe Jelmy and George. What
a week it's been. What a week.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
On today's show, Laroha Rubiales and the reckoning for Spanish football.
Just how a kiss unmasked the ugliness of the.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Beautiful game and what it all means, what it all means.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
There's so many developments on this we take you through
each and everything that happened.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
It's going to be a feature film. It really has
to be.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
The dramas the twist that turned the starving mother in
a church. There are layers, There are so many layers.
But more the point, we want to break down how
such a powerful man at the head of a massive
institution has tumbled and what it all means now But
for now headlines headline one every time, every time, every
(01:10):
time I watched the Swans, the Swans of last two
every what those are the dulcin tones of Robbie Williams
arguably one of the best Grand Final performances of all time,
and giving his feedback after the Swans were beaten by
the Blues because he's a carltonman, George, what do you mean?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
He's a Carlton manal known fact.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Of course, he gave the stellar performance in the pink
suit at last year's Grand Final. Michael Foster smuggled his
way into the mcg and just gave mcguernsey and he went,
I like you, you're a rule breaker. I'm a bluesman
and has for some reason decided he's going to upload
that video about the Swans just dragging them after the
performance in last year's Grandfather But that.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Kind of genius that's led the Blues to this final series.
As someone who hasn't watched like that much AFL growing up,
I do not see Carlton as a winning team except
for now. I don't see them winning. I don't know
how they do this, but now I'm calling them flag favorite.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And more the point people didn't during the year there
was calls for Michael Voss to stand down. Everyone was going,
oh my god, we're in the premiership window and why
isn't this happening?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And they've just turned it around, so.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
They're one of the stories. But the main talking point
from the AFL this weekend happened in the huge Melbourne
clash with Collingwood the Pies one. Melbourne has to face
Carlton next week. But it was a moment between Braidon
Maynard and Angus Brayshaw that has everyone talking. This was
Simon Goodwin.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
After the game. That'll be sorted out during the week,
but we've got a pretty shattered player in there. Yeah, look,
you can only go by the facts. He jumped off
the ground and knocked the guy out.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
So Maynard has been sent directly to the tribunal for
an unprecedented intervention. That was by new AFL footy boss
Laura Caine, so she's gone. This needs to go straight
to the tribunal, which usually means a minimum of three
weeks suspension. And this has Puris up in arms, essentially
saying what happened and the incident will describe it. He
went up for the smother braced and in the brace
(03:05):
because he was in mid air, knocked him and Angus
Brayshaw has been concussed so much so that he's in
questions for the rest of the final series awful for Brayshaw,
and Maynard rocked up at his house with a bottle
of wine to say sorry because they played geniors together.
But this is such a pivotal moment in AFL going
forward because if this was a football action, he was
(03:28):
going to smother the ball and then he braced in
mid air. There was nothing when you watch, there's no
malicious intent. There's really nothing else you can do. He's
just Maynard's a sort of player that just gives his all.
Should this result in his suspension and that he misses
finals football for this?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes, yes it should. It's so interesting to me it should,
it should. It's so interesting to me this debate. I
think that you say that it's a football act, yep,
I think that he has He could have done so
many different things there. He just made wrong choice. So
therefore it has to be careless, it has to be reckless,
and so therefore there has to be a suspension. So
(04:06):
I think both of their finals footy is over see.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I just think when you watch something in slow motion,
so many times you think, oh, could have done this
could in the moment you just brace for impact.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
But then the impact that impact and the consequences of
that impact has to be taken into account. Laura Kane,
the new football boss, would not be getting involved in
this if there was not going to be a penalty,
or if the AFL did not want there to be
a penalty.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And unfortunately it's a contact sport.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
But that's something that the purists they're going to have
to get over a little bit. You've got to give
some leeway here. The AFL is wide open for all
of these class actions that are happening right now. They
have to be seen as taking this seriously. And I
just do not see how Maynard can play again for
the Pies this year.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It's a watch and weight on this one.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
We have so many experts and former players coming out
and saying there is no way that he can get
suspended for it. But like you said, George, if the
game is going to be seen to be taking CT
and concussion seriously, there needs to be a change in
the style of play and maybe this becomes the turning point.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Headline two uses the monkey is back and the.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Beanie is on Georgia's head because the Broncos have finally
beaten Storm.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Welcome to the finals, baby, Yes, the last time.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That the Brisbane Broncos defeated the Melbourne Storm in Brisbane.
Reese Walsh was seven years old. Now he scores a
try to help us to a twenty six nil victory
and make it straight through to the prelim final. The
Penrith Panthers also massive win. I think was thirty two six.
Very dominant display against the Warriors, the Raiders and the Sharks.
They were eliminated in really tight games. But the Brisbane
(05:56):
Broncos we're coming home.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
But Ryan Pappenhausen, Oh, it was awful.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
There's some stories in sport where you just go some
things aren't fair.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yes, yes, So for context, dear listener, Ryan Pappenhausen, in
his third game back after four hundred and five days
away from the game that he loves so much, the
Melbourne Storm Superstar Fullback, he goes down. It was friendly fire.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
A sofa.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Solomona, who was the biggest man I have ever seen
in real life, fell onto Pappenhausen's ankle broke it.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
It was awful scenes.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
You just knew straight away just his reaction. He was screaming,
he was crying, he was bawling on the ground because
his whole career was flashing through his mind, which is
what he would have had every single day for the
last year by trying to get back from a shattered
kneecap was his last injury, and now to have such
a bad break on the ground at the time, people
(06:51):
were calling it a compound fracture. That is not the case,
which is great news. However, he still had six screws
and a plate put in to his ankle in an
operation over the weekend, but hopefully he may be back
training or starting his rehab at the end of January,
which is massively so distraught, he was so sad it was.
(07:11):
It was honestly just such an awful moment and the sport.
It was just a reminder that sport can be so
cruel because you'd be so unlucky to have one of
those injuries, let alone to potentially career ending injuries in
the space of two and a half years.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
We know the storm more wonderful in terms of the
club as an institution supporting their players and they'll get
around him, but our thoughts are certainly with him, and
you just you don't like to see it.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
It's awful, awful. Headline number three A little Hailey Rasso,
you star, the ribbons are flying. Why wouldn't it be?
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Grandma would be so proud because she and Sam Kerr
have been nominated for the Bell and Door And the
question is is this finally, finally the.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Year for Sam Kerr. She's been nominated five times, five times.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
I don't think it is to best all of our bubbles.
She obviously is our favorite player here in Australia, she's
one of the most favorite players overseas as well. But
I just think it's again not her time. There are
so many stars in women's football. We know her because
she's ours. I don't think she's going to do it.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
How dare you?
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I know it?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
And thirty on Sunday George Parade.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I'm sorry, Sam, I'm sorry better than that, but it's
great to see Rastlom nominated.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
He was about to say exciting times headline ful.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
Honestly, thank you to the people who didn't believe in me.
Like a month ago I won a five hundred title
and people said I went stop at that. Two weeks
ago I won a thousand title and people were saying
that was the biggest it was going to get. So
three were like three weeks later, I'm here with this
trophy right now, so you know, I've tried my best
(09:05):
to carry this for Grace, and I've been doing my best.
So honestly, to those who thought who were putting water
on my fire, you're really adding gas to it. And
now I'm really burning so.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Bright right now, the brightest star maybe in world sport,
but definitely in tennis at the moment, ten year old
Coco Gough, Is.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
That not one of the most American speeches you've ever heard? Though,
I'm going to take this with grace, but I'm burning
so bright right now. You tried to squash me, but
here I am.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
But good on her, good on.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
And there's a beautiful, beautiful footage of her when she
was knee high to a grasshopper dancing at the US Open.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
I know, and now she's one man, and now she's
won it.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
And there's something about those moments and you get flashbacks
of little ash Barty with a little trophy and those
chubby cheeks where it's been their dream and with tennis,
it has to have been their dream for so long,
and she finally did it.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
God, I miss Ash Barty, but yes, Cocoa Goff defeated
Arena Sabalanka in the US Open final. She was down
a set, she fought back to win the next to
in two hours and six minutes. And she is only
the third American team to win the US Open, after
Tracy Austin and a little known name siRNA Williams.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Whatever happened to her?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Yeah, God, she never really went on to do that much.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Savlenka her consolation prizes. She's number one in the world.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Oh yes, that's right, she is. And she is number one,
and she's also and I mean this with all due respect,
she is a beast. I saw her win the Australian Open.
Her career is fine. She'll be sad after this. She
do's herself off and she'll be back.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
As we go to air, we don't want to give
away when we record very secret, very secret. But ah,
if the men's final is happening, we're not ignoring it.
It's just happening right now. Djokovic wants to fight for
the right to party. If you've seen that grab, If
you haven't, just google it. It's very interesting. But the
fight is happening right now.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Gold be interesting up against Medvedev. I don't think Medvedev
has the legs. We'll back next week.
Speaker 6 (10:50):
I think he's won.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Jokovic, shut up.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
He won in record time.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Producer James sid James come through with the breaking Okay,
We're gonna now play the fight to the I'm gonna
find it.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Fight for the right to party. It's happening right now.
You gotta fight for all right to far.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
To understand football in Spain is to understand life in Spain.
That is how seriously all Spaniards take their national game.
Football dictates the mood of the nation, the economic prosperity
of the nation. Indeed, you could say it even reflects
the politics of the nation. That is no exaggeration. Titanic
(11:44):
Lalliga teams think the Spanish EPL. It is a gigantic league,
but for listeners who may not know about the football world,
LaLiga is like the English Premier League. Barcelona and Real
Madrid are two teams that belong to that league. They
have a combined worth of eleven billion US dollars. That's
a trillion Australian dollars. Don't fact check me, but that's
(12:05):
basically the conversion. So they represent two of the top
three most valuable sporting clubs on Earth. So it may
sound dramatic, but it could actually be an understatement to
say that Spaniards live for football and by default for
their favorite players, even for their mediocre ones. Enter Louis Rubiales.
(12:31):
He was born in the Canary Islands in nineteen seventy seven.
Rubiales grew up loving soccer, as the majority of his
country does. It took him a while to find his
feet though jelmy. As a professional player. He only made
it to the second div I think in the latter
stages of his twenties, and most of his career was
played there. Before his side, Levante was promoted to the
(12:52):
top tier La Liga in two thousand and four. He
played fifty three matches for them there from four to
eight Interesting while he was in that team, he led
industrial action against that club over unpaid wages. So he
was leading a strike that union spirit stuck and after
(13:12):
he retired in two thousand and nine at the age
of thirty two, he became the president of the Spanish
Footballers Association. In this role, Rubiali's made very powerful friends
both on and off the field. It led him to
his current role spoiler. His previous current role head of
the rf EF, the Spanish football federation. In May twenty eighteen,
(13:37):
he marked himself really as a president who was unafraid
to make big decisions at big moments. He fired the
men's national coach two days before the twenty eighteen World
Cup they failed to make the final sixteen. He's moved
Spanish competitions to Saudi Arabia for big, big paydays, despite
the country's poor human rights record. He's also the vice
president former vice president of UEFA, the governing body for
(14:01):
European football. For context, some argue that you Wafer has
even more power than FIFA. So all that that means
is he is a monumental figure in the game of football,
not just in Spain but over the world. During his tenure,
Rubiales was accused of misusing federation funds for private parties,
(14:22):
making illicit recordings of confidential conversations, and having a general
apathy towards women's football.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Because you speak about rubial as being someone who wasn't
afraid to make bold moves and change coaches before international tournaments, well,
the plight of fifteen female players who wrote a letter
to the federation saying, hey, this juge builder. We don't
want to play for him. He's affecting our mental and
our physical wellbeing. Some of the complaints were as yuck
(14:51):
as the fact that they weren't allowed to lock their
doors while on camps, but extended to the fact that
he wasn't playing the rotations as highly as they would
have liked, so different weren't getting.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Off the sties.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
It's like it's stems both on field. They had on
field issues with him in terms of tactics. They had
bulk off field issues with w Wilda in terms of
how he was running the team and the expectations that
he had for them.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And Rubielle said, do you know who we like Wilda?
So Wilda stays. So twelve of those players never featured
in the World Cup.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
George, Yeah, twelve of them. That's massive. And despite all
of that, that's a brief backstory. We've tried to truncate
it as much as possible because there's so much to
talk about. But despite all of that, a month ago,
no one outside of football circles really knew the name
Lewis Rubiali's a kiss though on a stage in our
(15:42):
own backyard Sydney changed everything. Jeremy paint the scene for me.
Spain has just won the Women's World Cup one nil
over England. They go to accept their trophies. You and
I are watching, We're watching, the world is watching. It's
a wonderful moment at the end of a tournament that
to this point, particularly in Australia, has been oh soo
(16:04):
feel good. You're excited about the moment for women's sport,
You're excited about the viewership in the numbers. Then enters
onto the stage, a stage that has our own indignitaries,
including Anthony have an easy Jenny Homoso for context.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Homoso is a thirty three year old forward. She's represented
Spain from seventeen years old. Wow, that was back in
two thousand and six. She has a decorated career with
top Spanish European clubs. Are talking Barcelona PSG and also
Athletico Madrid.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
This is not her first rodeo.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
She gets onto the stage and there is a moment
that is broadcast that everyone just goes gosh, that's uncomfortable
because Rubiellas can be seen with both hands either side
of Jennie Homoso's head where he kisses her and it.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Just felt wrong.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Also, during the celebrations of that triumph for Spain, Rubiellas
can be seen grabbing his crutch yep in celebration.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
With the Queen of Spain not far away next to.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Her sixteen year old daughter.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah, so this is the sort of bloke that we're
dealing with. That at a women's sporting game or any
sporting game, the way that he celebrates his by grabbing
his generals sounds real.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Stand up.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
The world watches that and goes, oh, that was uncomfortable.
That was a bit weird, And in a live stream
after the game, Jenny Moso says, yeah, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Like it, but what are you gonna do? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
The Spanish Football Federation then the next day brings out
a statement saying Homoso said, oh, you know, it was consensual.
It was basically it was swept up in a moment
and what you saw was joy and celebration.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
But definitely mutual joy and celebration. That's how it was painted.
That is what the statement said.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Turns out Jenny Moso didn't consent to any statement and
they were not her words.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Rubiales initially George apologized for the kiss. This is really
important because initially after he described his critics as idiots,
he said there was a conversation that took place where
the kiss was consented to. He also really tried to
stress the fact that Jenny picked him up.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
That was really weird.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
There were so many articles that I saw at the
time being like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it has
to be consensual. Jenny actually embraces him and lifts him up,
so therefore it's a green light.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Essentially, he sort of gave one of those stories that
was like, I'm sorry if I offended you, but I'm
not sorry for what I done. So it was done
without any ill intention in a moment of highest exuberance.
What we saw was a natural, normal, no outside commotion,
like we just you know, and described it as I
kissed her the way that I.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Would kiss my daughters. Yeah. Not great.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Back home in Spain, one hundreds protest against Rubala's essentially
having seen the moment, being embarrassed about the way that
it's been spoken about internationally, saying that he needs to
stand down. Joining that chorus is the Spanish Prime Minister
who says, I think the apology mister Rubalees has given
was insufficient. I'd say it wasn't adequate, and that he
(18:53):
should keep taking further steps.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
I mean, that's that's pretty big. We should stress that
imput from the government of Spain that they are getting
into this, because I think it's important to note that
some of the commentary around what's happened, and especially in
the fallout from the kiss, the unsolicited kiss, is that, oh,
(19:16):
it's cultural, that's what happens in Spain. They're just different
from us. They get very excited, that's what it is.
But I think that that is a cop out, and.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
It is because gratefully the world is talking about this,
and there are Spanish journalists and Spanish football journalists that
are female and or male saying no, and you might
see back and go, is that cultural? Is that just
how it is? Yes, they might be more affectionate than
some Western cultures, but to be grabbed like that and
kissed like that when it wasn't consensual in any context,
(19:48):
particularly in a workplace. It's an extraordinary workplace, but it
was her workplace where he is her boss's boss. Consent
has layers to it. Yes, and our gut feeling of
this isn't right?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Was right?
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Because Jennihimoso then came out with the help of her union,
essentially with a long statement that she released on the
twenty fifth of August on Twitter saying I've been disrespected.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
I did not consent this. People are saying this on
my behalf. I felt violated. This is not okay.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
And ironically that's the same union that Rubiales used to lead.
So that is how powerful this figure is in the
context of Spanish football. He has been at the helm
of very powerful institutions within it. He's been on the
boards of a million things. So for that institution itself,
the system to back the player instead of him.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Is huge, you say, the system. FIFA then comes out
and opens a case against Ribale's.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
Because at this point Rubiali still has a.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Job very much so yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
He then comes out in one of the most extraordinary
press conferences you'll ever see and chance I will not resign.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
Nod no boiimid no no boy me.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Seems to be quite a bit of applause there at
the end of it, so obviously his speech, this spectacular speech,
was well received by the people in the room.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
The speech went on to say a social assassination is
taking place. I'm ready to be vilified to defend my ideals.
I don't deserve this manhunt that I've been suffering.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Suffering suffering interesting choice of words, yep.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
And the Spanish government later said they're beginning legal proceedings
against Rubalas, and the Spanish secretary says they want this
to be Spanish football's me too moment. So the big
dogs are getting involved. You've got FIFA, you've got the government,
and all through this, Rubales is standing there saying I
didn't do it. In the meantime, eighty one Spanish players,
(21:50):
including Homoso's triumpher teammates, have all said that they won't
play for the country.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
And now a movement is growing that the Spanish government
themselves seem to be embraced, let alone the Spanish people
and all the football fans around the world. Their reactions
to it have largely been in support of Jenny Homoso,
but still not enough so that Rubials was like, yeah,
you're right, guys, not good from me, so sorry.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
FIFA suspends Rubalas for ninety days and says that you're
not all out of contact Jenny Homoso's.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Team, which is wild for FIFA to be getting into
wars when it comes to you know, moral high ground.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
Oh hey, Wilda then goes, oh no, oh no, I've
seen applauding this bloke at a press conference where he
said he's going to pay me five hundred thousand euros
instead of one hundred and forty thousand euros that I
was on and has offered me a new job.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
This doesn't smell good.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I need to come out and essentially say I regret
deeply that the victory of the Spanish women's football team
has been harmed by the inappropriate behavior of up until
now top leader Robales.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
So he comes out and says, oh, I don't know
how I feel that.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
And there's layers to that as well, right, because Wilda
and Rubyale have had each other's backs, but the best
part of a decade, like as soon as Juge Wilda
took up the coaching job of La Roha in twenty
fifteen or so Rubiali's becomes president in twenty eighteen, they've
always kind of been like, don't you worry, I've forgot you. Yeah,
(23:16):
I've got you. So there are layers to this. So
for Wilda to come out and say, oh yeah, actually
maybe a bit inappropriate, huge.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
When the bloke had just very publicly offered you a
massive pay rise and lauded you and had you back
and supported you to that moment.
Speaker 2 (23:31):
This is the bit.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
That made morning television hell television around the world. His
mum decided to lock herself in a church and go
on our hunger st went on a hunger strike, and
Jess said, my son.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
My poor son, Louis, my poor son.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Jenny, tell the truth. I am not eating until this
is done. And can you believe it? Three days later
she was taken the hospital by a priest.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
It's honestly so unbelievable everything that has happened.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
And yet that is the part that was spoken about
on breakfast television this morning. They said, Loos Robialis has
stood down, and someone goes, didn't his mom starve herself?
And that's the bit that cut through and bizarrely she
was trying to get an end to the drama and
my god that she perpetuated.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, because all of this are further.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Headlines that the world can talk about and highlight of
going gee, this is FIFA standing him down, his mum's fasting,
what's happening? If he had just come out and done
what so many people do and paid lip service and said,
you know what, I've had time to reflect. I'll receive counseling.
The kiss wasn't right. The world goes away and the
(24:40):
pressure doesn't mount on Spanish football to need to do
something about this the way.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
That it has.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
But thankfully he couldn't because for whatever reason, he believes
so deeply in himself that he's done nothing wrong, even
though the victim has said, I've been vilified, You've taken
a moment from me that I'll never get back. This
isn't right, and the world's going, yeah, mate, this isn't right.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
And then Wilda get sacked.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
So he's claiming that he's going to defend his unfair dismissal.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Jeez.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
It's interesting though, because I mean, now, with events that
have happened even since that which we're about to get to,
it did kind of reek at the time of is
the wrong person standing down here? Is he the sacrificial lamb?
I am not defending how he has behaved in the past, Wilda,
I'm not defending his actions. He has been a very
(25:35):
controversial figure for a long time with Larroha, but at
that point his whole coaching staff had already stepped down
in protest, that already said we do not support what
is going on at the football Federation.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
As had all of his players, but he hadn't.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
But he hadn't. He was like, this is fine, this
is I am here to reap the rewards of what
I've just been able to.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Lead the team too.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
At that time he could have been seen the sacrificial
lamb because Rubiales, yes had been stood down from FIFA
for ninety days a temporary suspension, but was the wrong
person going This morning, Jelmy, we woke up to some
pretty big news Lewis Rubiales talking to Piers Morgan announcing
(26:20):
he is stepping down as the president of the Football
Federation of Spain because his position has become untenable. Not
that he's necessarily sorry for the actions and everything that
he has done, but he is unable to continue in
the role because the noise around it has just become
too loud and not good for the game, the greater game.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
You've come under ferocious pressure for three weeks now on you,
on your family. It's been very difficult for your daughters,
the young girls. I can only imagine as a father myself,
I have a daughters, and around the age of one
of your girls credibly difficult. There comes a point, perhaps
when the pressure is just so relent relentless, that you
(27:07):
do think about what you should do with yourself and
your future. Many people think you should resign as president.
What are you going to do?
Speaker 7 (27:18):
I love so much my daughters, and they love me
so so much. Time very happy, I'm very proud of them,
very very proud of then they are very near to
me about magnation, Yes, I'm going to do.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
I'm going.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
Yeah, I'm going to Yes. Course I cannot continue my work.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
If I hear one more man in power use having
daughters as a character reference as to why their behavior
is more exemplary than other people's. I am going to
write like I.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Just it's giving Schmo. If asked Jenny, he even he.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Is saying I have a daughter, You have daughters to
preface this conversation about an unconsensual kiss is so nauseating
and at the crux of this entire problem.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
I would say that Lewis Ribiali is as far as
he is concerned. I don't know the man personally, but
I think that I can say, it's safe to assume
that he would feel like he's not done anything wrong here.
It's the first time I think that he has had
true accountability to face. He felt like he was just
(28:34):
so excited at the time. That's how he celebrates that
he was showing his love for this team. And I
think that that's the narrative that he is going to
have to reckon with himself now that he is no
longer in this position. He's also stepped down from being
vice president of YUEFA.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
He's also being prosecuted.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Yeah, yeah, Jenny and Moso has sought legal action and
Spanish state prosecutors have accused him of sexual assault and coercion.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yes, and with charges at the time of this recording,
that with charges expected to be laid. Criminal charges.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
So with that statement that we just heard comes the
follow up from that interview where he says, I will
defend my honor, I will defend my innocence. I have
faith in my future. It's a goal. The powers that
be have made it so difficult. I cannot continue my work.
This is a witch hunt. I have daughters. I'm thinking
(29:32):
of them. It's not that this is getting so loud.
I have to step away and reflect.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
There's no I don't think there's too much self reflection here.
It's him falling on his sword. But what we must
remember is the sword is of his making and also
representative of a system that has, I think shown a
lot of misogyny, are very misogynistic system in Spain.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
The irony of this whole story loop is this kiss
is a good thing because without the kiss, Spanish female
footballers had tried, as the head of FIFA had said,
pick your battles, push the doors. They had picked their battles.
(30:23):
They were pushing the doors to try to convince us men,
as were so eloquently.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Described by Gianni Infantino, what.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
Changes needed to be made, and twelve of them were
stood down. And now because of the world's attention on
this kiss, which is horrendous and we hope that justice
is served for Jenny Homoso, but because of it, the
world is looking at an institution and saying, hang on,
(30:53):
this isn't okay. And those people, the institution and the
buddies that all took care of each other one by
one have fallen from pressure from the government itself. But
the pressure from the government only comes when the world
is looking in saying what are you doing about it?
Speaker 1 (31:09):
If you want to be a global game, you have
to have global eyes on you, right. And if there's
a lot of global scrutiny following this and it goes,
oh hang on, that doesn't add up, then could there
have been a different result here? I don't really think so.
I just think that it took a very long time
for Rubiales to step down.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
I put this to you. Do you still feel joyous
about the Women's World Cup?
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Yes I do. I do because I hate to say
that it is a good moment. But the positives that
can be taken away from the kiss is that Spain
now has a new coach. It's a female coach, Monts Matome.
She is a former player for Spain. She had a
few caps for Spain, but she played a lot of football,
including at Levante. Ironically a lot of football, and she
(31:57):
knows the players very well. Apparently she has a really
good relayationship with them. I put an asterisk on her
because she was part of Wilda's regime, so she was
his deputy, so she was there throughout all of the
complaints as well. So would she have been hamstrung by
what she could have done as a deputy, I have
no doubt, but I'm hopeful that having her now as
(32:19):
their head coach, and hopefully she does have that good
relationship with the players, that there may be a little
bit more of a dialogue happening between those parties. So
I take that away as a positive thing. I take
away it being positive because it's raised these conversations into
the wider culture within Spain, and it's also a reminder
(32:39):
that yes, the Matildas have made so much ground and
it was world changing for us here in Australia, but
there's still so much to be done when it comes
to I want to say equality, but even just accountability
and belief.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
There's a lot of commentary around not just women's football,
but women's sport of just playing. Why do you always
have to have agendas? Why do you always have to campaign?
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Just play?
Speaker 3 (33:05):
Hopefully this is a step towards what all female athletes
want to do, which is just play sport.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Jelmy, you know what, dam it is. It's time for
another fun fact. As we know you may not know,
dear listener, but the Rugby World Cup is happening right
now overseas in France. Gelmy brace yourself for this. Did
you know that Ireland is a number one team no
currently in the world, in the world rugby standings, Island
is number one.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Not the lie.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Do you know where the All Blacks sit? No, it
goes Ireland Spring box, France, All Blacks.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
No wonder the kiwis have been quiet. We hadn't heard
much from across the ditch for a while and now
this makes sense?
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Right?
Speaker 1 (33:59):
And did you even know what's in more shocking? That's
not even our fun fact. I was just telling you.
I was just getting me an update. What's happening right now?
Speaker 3 (34:06):
For context? I don't know what the fun fact is.
And George said, don't look, And I believe that was
the fun fact because that shocks me.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Did you know that the Rugby World Cup has one
of the most random traditions that I have seen. They
have a ceremonial whistle that they have been using to
launch the first game of the competition for most, if
not all, editions of the World Cup. They have a
(34:34):
mangy old whistle from nineteen oh five. It is a
very important piece of supporting history. But as I apologize,
everyone who loves the gil Evans whistle.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
But is it wooden?
Speaker 1 (34:45):
It's no, it's actually it's metal, but it's rusty.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
But is the little ball that moves around wooden?
Speaker 1 (34:50):
That? I don't know that because I'm confirmed unconfirmed growth
on that theme, like I just can't. So Apparently in
nineteen oh five, the first rugby game but between England
and New Zealand, a Welsh referee named Gil Evans used
this whistle and he used it to officiate all of
his matches. Then after that he bestowed it like a
baton to another Welsh referee, and then he used it
(35:14):
throughout his career and since then it has been used
since the World Cup to start the first game. Did
you also know that this is how Bonker's tradition is
with respect? That whistle is passed around like an Olympic
torch relay and eventually goes on these travels and eventually
ends up in the host nation for the Rugby World Cup.
(35:36):
So just think you can't be telling me that you
have that whistle and every single person that you meet
along that journey ain't blown it.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Is it like the Melbourne Cup? Or you need to
weg gloves and only if you are a referee. Are
you allowed to blow on them?
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (35:52):
I have so many questions.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
It is actually and to be serious, it is revolting.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
You're sorry, fun fact, tradition, steep, lovely, all of those things,
some old hundred year old communal mouthpiece that for some
reason survived COVID.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
They're still using that.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
I was really drugged. You know what. It's giving rose
from Titanic.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
And you know what the whistle was around.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
That's it for our fun fact this week. That's also
for our show today.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
It's the final whistle.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
If you will, thank you, thank you for listening to
Good Sports this week.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
We better go. We've lost it. We've officially lost it.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
We'll see you next week, or you'll hear us next
week however you want to play it.
Speaker 2 (36:45):
But until then, be a good sport.
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