In order to support her son, who is facing criticism for kissing a player during the most recent Women’s World Cup awards ceremony, the mother of the president of the Spanish football federation has started a hunger fast in a church in southern Spain.
Who is Ángeles Béjar?
Angeles Béjar, Luis Rubiales’ mother, told the state news agency EFE that she would continue her hunger strike “night and day” until a solution to her son’s “bloody and inhumane hounding” was found.
In a speech outside the church in the southern town of Motril, Rubiales’s mother and cousin urged the player, Jenni Hermoso, to “tell the truth.” In addition to saying that the family was going through a lot, she called Rubiales “a beautiful person.”
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Following the kiss, which many saw as a form of sexual abuse, Rubiales faced a barrage of condemnation. The event took place last Sunday in Sydney, Australia, at the medal ceremony following the final.
Rubiales also made a winning gesture earlier in the celebrations while in the presidential box and near to the queen of Spain and her teenage princess daughter.
He was given a 90-day provisional suspension by FIFA, the governing body of football, on Saturday after he made a combative address and refused to resign.
In response to Rubiales’ actions following Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory, including his uninvited kiss on Jenni Hermoso, FIFA on Friday handed him a provisional 90-day suspension from all football-related activities. Spain’s Supreme Sports Council is also pursuing his removal from office.
Despite the player’s denials, Rubiales has refused to step down over the matter, maintaining that the kiss was consensual and threatening legal action against Hermoso and her union, Futpro.
The incident is the subject of an initial sexual abuse inquiry, according to Spanish prosecutors.
Béjar told EFE that unless Rubiales was justified, her protest would go on “forever, day and night.”
She added: “There is no sexual abuse since there is consent on both sides, as the images prove. … My son is incapable of hurting anyone.”
