Furor over Luis Rubiales is not about a kiss, it's about females feeling safe playing a sport they love

Last week's end of the FIFA Women's World Cup gave us so much excitement and a new champion in Spain. We witnessed the host countries flourish with support, and we watched a team mobilize to win the greatest prize in women's football under tumultuous circumstances.

But we had hardly a moment to savour the joy before it was brutally snatched from the players and fans and completely overtaken by Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Since that moment when Rubiales aggressively kissed Spanish player Jenni Hermoso at the trophy ceremony, we have seen the situation descend into what can only be described as a wretched plot from a B-grade telenovela.

In no short order there was an offering of a non-apology apology from Rubiales (complete with girl dad narratives), incorrect statements issued by RFEF, staff resigning in protest, a suspension by FIFA, and team head coach Jorge Vilda supporting then distancing himself from Rubiales, who is so bound to his own ego that the entire federation is at risk of imploding. All while Spain is pursuing co-hosting the 2030 World Cup.

I didn't even get to the part where Rubiales mother (yes, his mother) has holed up in a church on a hunger strike in protest of the "inhuman hunt" against her son. It sounds absurd and laughable but the situation is not funny. It's frustrating and deflating, but also unsurprising. 

Last week, instead of celebrating in Ibiza as she should have been, Hermoso released a statement that the kiss from Rubiales was not consensual — he claims he asked her and she agreed.

How could it have been in the nanosecond of interaction on the stage and with this type of power dynamic? Would she even have felt comfortable saying no, particularly to a