The Spanish women’s national team nicknamed "La Roja" made history on Sunday 20 by becoming the World Champions for the first time in their history after beating England 1-0 in Stadium Australia in Sydney.

One week later, the focus has shifted away from the remarkable achievement of the players to the President of the Spanish federation, Luis Rubiales.

Calls for Rubiales to step down have emerged due to his actions of planting an unsolicited kiss on Hermoso’s lips and grabbing his crotch in celebration shortly after the final whistle on Sunday.

In the VIP area of the Stadium Australia, immediately after Spain's victory was confirmed, Rubiales was seen grabbing his crotch. Despite Spain's Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter, Sofía, standing right beside him, his actions appeared unaffected by their presence.

On Saturday, FIFA provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days after his inappropriate actions during the 2023 FIFA World Cup final that received a storm of criticism.

FIFA’s decision came after a series of events over the past week.

Following the kiss, Hermoso’s first public words about it were: “Euh… yeah, I did not enjoy that.”

In a released video a day after the triumph, the 46-year-old former player only apologized for his VIP action but considered the kiss as consensual, saying it was “the same kiss as the one I would give to one of my daughters”.

He admitted that he “made a mistake” before adding “it looks like it has turned into a storm and so, if there are people who have felt offended, I have to say I’m sorry.”

The federation published a statement shortly afterward in which Hermoso supposedly says the kiss was consensual, but she later said those words were written by the federation.

Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s acting prime minister, considered Rubiales’ response as “insufficient” after presenting the team with the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit at Moncloa Palace — the prime minister’s residence.

“It shows that in our country there’s a long way to go in terms of equality and respect between men and women,” Sanchez told reporters. “What we saw was an unacceptable gesture. I think the apology Mr. Rubiales has given wasn’t sufficient. I’d say it wasn’t adequate.”

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee informed Rubiales on Thursday that a disciplinary proceeding has been opened against him based on the events that occurred during the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on August 20 as they seem to constitute violations of article 13 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

At a meeting in which everyone expected Luis Rubiales to announce his resignation as Spanish Football Association (RFEF) president, he claimed “a social assassination” was being attempted against him and lectured the audience on “false feminism” in a long, manipulative speech.

The President’s astonishing speech saw him shout five times “I will not resign” amid the audience’s claps.

Another remarkable moment of Rubiales’ speech was addressing Jorge Vilda, the head coach of the women’s team, who has been criticized over and over again by the players. “I invite you [Vilda] to stay with us for the next four years, earning €500,000 a year” before adding “You deserve it, Jorge. We’ve gone through a lot, they’ve wanted to do to you the same thing that now they’re doing to me. They’re trying to create a false discourse and turn it into reality.”

Jenni Hermoso didn’t remain silent. She issued a statement of her own on social media.

The Spanish forward said “I felt vulnerable and a victim of aggression, an impulsive act, sexist, out of place and without any type of consent from my part. In short, I wasn’t respected,” before adding “at no time did I consent to the kiss,” Hermoso said. “I won’t tolerate having my word doubted, much less have people inventing things that I didn’t say.”

In a letter signed by 81 players released on Friday via the players’ union Futpro, the World-Cup winning squad as well as other eligible Spanish players stated they will reject call-ups to the national team until the leadership of the RFEF is changed considering that Rubiales’ actions are “violating the dignity of women”.

Following Rubiales' speech, several World Cup champions and other football stars spoke out and showed support for the all-time Spanish top scorer, Hermoso.

Alexia Putellas said that what is happening “is unacceptable. It’s over. With you, Jenni Hermoso.” The World Cup’s Golden Boot Aitana Bonmati considered that “there are limits which cannot be crossed and this we cannot tolerate”.

Two Las 15 players who refused to return to the Spain squad for this year’s World Cup, Patri Guijarro and Mapi Leon, saw this coming. “The players’ demands last year “were not a simple tantrum,” said the Barca defender, Leon.

The Superior Sports Council (CSD CSD ) released a statement on Saturday in which they recommended Rubiales to be “ provisionally suspended” as his actions in Spain’s match vs. England included “very serious” breaches of disciplinary regulations within the country’s general sports law.

A day before the official statement, Victor Francos, the President of the CSD announced that “we will suspend Senor Rubiales from all his functions of the presidency. “We are ready for this to become the ‘Me Too’ of Spanish football.”

Saturday also witnessed the resignation of 11 coaching and technical staff members who had roles with Spain's senior and age-group women's teams.

Among the 11 names were Jorge Vilda’s assistants Montse Tome and Javier Lerga, the fitness and goalkeeping coaches of the senior side, Blanca Romero Moraleda and Carlos Sanchez, as well as age-group coaches Sonia Bermudez and Elena Fernandez.

The statement said that some female staff members had been “obliged” to sit in the front row and show support for Rubiales during his self-justifying speech at Spanish federation headquarters in Madrid on Friday. The plan was to give the image that they support Rubiales in this.

Amid this storm of accusations and resignations, the football governing body, FIFA announced that Rubiales has been provisionally suspended.

In addition to suspending Rubiales from all football-related activities, the Colombian Jorge Ivan Palacio, the chairman of the disciplinary committee at FIFA, ordered Rubiales and the Spanish federation not to contact Hermoso.

The head coach of Spain’s women’s national team, Jorge Vilda, released a statement in which he said he was “sorry” that Rubiales’ actions tarnished the World Cup triumph. He criticized the “improper behavior” of his federation’s president but has confirmed that he is not resigning.

• In the pre-match press conference on Saturday, the Barca manager Xavi condemned Rubiales’ “unacceptable” actions offering “my unconditional support to Jenni Hermoso and all the Spanish players.”

• Cadiz players held a banner saying "We are all Jenni" before their La Liga match vs. Almeria. The fans at the stadium were heard chanting "Rubiales, resign!"

• The players of NWSL teams San Diego Wave and Orlando Pride wore wristbands saying “With you, Jenni”.

• Borja Iglesias has decided to retire from the Spanish national team until Luis Rubiales resigns.

• In a statement on social media, the Lionesses have showed support for Hermoso and attacked Luis Rubiales, stating "abuse is abuse".

A week after the scandal, we’re still far from a solution as the Spanish federation continues to support Rubiales and issued a statement threatening to sue their all-time top scorer Hermoso.