When the president of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed Jennifer Hermoso, a star forward on the Spanish national team that had just won the Women’s World Cup, much of the Spanish news media condemned his behavior. Most mainstream outlets, along with Spaniards on social media, called out the kiss as evidence of a callous disregard for Ms. Hermoso and, more broadly, lingering sexism in soccer.
Not the radio sportscaster Manolo Lama. Mr. Lama said on a popular late-night show on the Cadena Cope radio station, “Those who are angry, it’s because they have never been kissed.” He used the female pronoun for “they” in Spanish.
Earlier, in a post-match interview with Mr. Rubiales, also on Cadena Cope, a popular sports presenter, Juanma Castaño, did not question the federation president about the appropriateness of his behavior. When Mr. Rubiales characterized the kiss as a “peck between two friends celebrating something” and brushed off his critics as “losers,” “idiots” and “stupid people,” Mr. Castaño laughed and said, “I think the same thing.”
As the chorus of condemnation grew over the week following Mr. Rubiales’s actions at the World Cup final, it became harder to defend the federation president.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez…
