Embattled Luis Rubiales sends Fifa new footage of Spanish players laughing at Jenni Hermoso kiss

31 August 2023, 09:35 | Updated: 31 August 2023, 12:33

Footage has emerged of Spanish players laughing about Luis Rubiales' kiss of Jenni Hermoso.

The Spanish football boss has sent Fifa a copy of the video as he tries to cling on to his job.

Hermoso is seen laughing at a meme of the moment, which has engulfed Spain in a huge sexism row amid strong calls for Rubiales to quit.

Fifa, the sport's world governing body, has issued a 90 day ban though he has refused to resign and his mother has gone on a hunger strike in his defence.

But footage has now emerged of the Spanish players on the bus, showing her smiling as she looks at a meme on a phone comparing the Rubiales incident to men's goalkeeper Iker Casillas kissing his partner.

They chant "besos", Spanish for kisses, in the footage.

A source close to Rubiales told the Mail: "This video is gold dust for Rubiales. All along we have said for Jenni to tell the truth. There was no sexual assault. If there was why was she laughing and joking?

"She waited more than three days to make a complaint, if she was that offended why not say something straight away and why joke about it with team mates?"

Rubiales has now sent the new video to the Fifa in a bid to clear his name.

He has faced immense pressure to quit after he kissed striker Jenni Hermoso on the lips following Spain's victory in the Women's World Cup.

Hermoso said immediately after the kiss that she "did not like it", though Rubiales has maintained he had consent.

She described the kiss, which came moments after Spain secured the Women's World Cup over England, as "non-consensual" and said she felt "vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven sexist".

Rubiales, 46, who has vowed to stay on, was told to "immediately present his resignation as president" of the Spanish football body because of "unacceptable behaviours that have seriously damaged the image of Spanish football".

His mother had been hospitalised following a days-long "hunger strike" in protest against the claims made about her son.

Rubiales' mum Angeles Bejar suffered a panic attack and abandoned the protest on its third day.

She had been staging the hunger strike at a church in Motril, in southern Spain, where the parish priest confirmed she had been hospitalised "as a matter of urgency".

Ms Bejar earlier labelled the controversy surrounding her son's kiss with Hermoso a "hunt...that he does not deserve". She has urged Hermoso to "tell the truth" and "maintain the version she had at the beginning of the events".

Spanish prosecutors have launched a sexual assault investigation.

A spokesperson for the Spanish National Court said: "Prosecutors from the national court have opened a preliminary investigation to look into the facts, which could constitute an offence of sexual assault."