Arsenal, Linkoping fans show support for Hermoso as Spain row rumbles on

LINKOPING, Sweden : Fans of Swedish club Linkoping and England's Arsenal showed their solidarity with Spain player Jenni Hermoso ahead of a Champions League qualifier on Wednesday as the fallout from a kiss in the wake of the Women's World Cup final continues.

Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales grabbed Hermoso and kissed her on the lips after Spain's 1-0 victory over England, prompting world governing body FIFA to suspend him from all football-related activities for three months as it investigates the incident.

Rubiales, 46, has refused to step down and been defiant over the kiss - which has been condemned as unwanted by Hermoso, her team mates and the Spanish government - arguing it was consensual.

The situation has since spiralled into a national row over women's rights, macho behaviour and sexual abuse that has attracted attention from all over the world.

The two sets of fans gathered at the Linkoping Arena an hour before kickoff on Wednesday, unfurling a banner with the message "Se Acabo" - Spanish for "It's Over" - written on it, a slogan that has been used to support Hermoso online.

"Spain won the World Cup, but we hear more about this (situation) than the football they've played," Arsenal fan Lulu Eude told Reuters.

"Unfortunately, that is the case sometimes in women's football and women's sports - these causes have to take the spotlight off the football," she added.

Eude travelled to the game, which Arsenal won 3-0, with her friends and fellow Arsenal fans Joanna Andrews, Tilly Grassick and Nathalie van Hameren, and together with other fans they chanted "Contigo Jenni" - "We're with you Jenni" - on the way to the ground.

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"I think she (Hermoso) just had what should be the biggest