(CNN) – The most talked about moment in women’s football last year, and indeed for the last few years, was not the goal, the play or anything that happened during the match. It was an unwanted kiss given by the then federation president to one of the game’s biggest stars.
For many viewers, the incident between Luis Rubiales and Jennifer Hermoso in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final provided a brief glimpse into the life of a soccer player. But for those more familiar with the turmoil and controversy that lies at the heart of Spanish football, it has become a flashpoint.
Among those who immediately saw the bigger picture was Joanna Pardos, director of the new Netflix documentary “#SeAcabó: Diario de las Championas,” released earlier this month.
Even though Pardos had seen the team win their first Women’s World Cup title against England, he was keenly aware that this team was in crisis, with a group of players who had long been vocal against perceived sexism and inequality. The aftermath of Rubiales’ kiss only reinforced his belief that this story needed a wider audience and that now was the time to tell it.
“Footballers for the first time felt social support for daring to speak out and we knew the problem deeply,” Pardos told CNN Sport, adding that Rubiales’ now-infamous post-kiss actions had forced her to make a documentary.
“He presented it all to us on a silver platter,” he said.
Rubiales was president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) when he kissed Hermoso during the Women’s World Cup final medal ceremony. She later described the kiss as consensual, but Hermoso denied that claim, saying she was disrespected.
In the days that followed, Rubiales staunchly defended her actions, refusing to resign from her position and denouncing “false feminism” and the “unfair” campaign against her.
But as pressure mounted and world governing body FIFA suspended him, Rubiales resigned from his position in September last year, explaining that “the powers that be will prevent my return.”
Rubiales has since been banned by FIFA from participating in “all football-related activities” and the decision was upheld on appeal, while Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for the 47-year-old. , claiming that he kissed Hermoso “without consent or acceptance.” Rubiales denied the accusations.
However, cracks in the team appeared long before the unfortunate incident with Rubiales. In September 2022, 15 players known as “Las 15” announced they would not take part in international matches, while then-coach Jorge Vilda, a longtime ally of Rubiales, remained at the helm. Vilda called the situation a “global disgrace” and some players later returned to the team for the following year’s World Cup.
The deep problems of Spanish football, which caused outrage in the Iberian country and around the world after the Rubiales kiss, are carefully analyzed in the documentary “#SeAcabó” with comprehensive testimonies from some of the country’s best players, including Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati (both two-time Ballon d’Or winners “among women), Irene Paredes and Hermoso herself.
Particular attention is paid to how the world champion players formed a united front in the aftermath of the Rubiales kiss, once again refusing to represent the national team and calling for “real structural changes” within the federation, leading to a crisis that forced the government to intervene.
According to Pardos, the players’ testimonies in the documentary were driven by “outrage, anger, but also joy and pride at what they had achieved.”
“The scandal in the finale was the straw that broke the camel’s back of indignation that had been filling for years. But of course, the scale of the events and the fact that they happened at the moment of the greatest success an athlete can achieve, such as winning the World Cup, infuriated the players, Pardos added to CNN.
“The kiss was not a simple beak, as many said; “It was a demonstration of the superiority of a man who considers himself a master and wants to prove to the world that he is right.”
The documentary reveals new details about the behavior of Rubiales and Vilda, who was sacked weeks after winning the World Cup.
Players describe Wilda as an authoritarian who controlled what they ate, who they spent time with, and even came into their hotel rooms at night to chat.
“He came into our room while we were lying down,” former national team goalkeeper Sandra Paños says in the documentary. “It was a very unfortunate situation.”
Before this, as the team is seen preparing for the World Cup semi-final against Sweden, Rubiales makes an awkward and seemingly reckless speech to the players, asking: “Who has more ovaries, us or them?” His words, Bonmati adds in the documentary, “went in one ear and out the other.”
Also notable was a video of the players joking about the kiss Rubiales gave Hermoso during the post-final celebrations, before veteran defender Paredes intervened and urged them to stop. “This is serious,” he says. “He kissed her because he felt superior to her.”
As for Hermoso, she appears in the documentary in conversations with Paredes and Putellas, recounting how she was abused on social media after the kiss, felt afraid when leaving the house and was “stunned” when she saw Rubiales refuse to resign. .
Her close friend Putellas succinctly describes the dilemma Hermoso faced when Rubiales kissed her, explaining: “It’s hard to react in that moment and say ‘enough’ because one, he’s your boss, and two, because You’re in a very emotional moment.”
Towards the end of the documentary, we hear how the federation tried “at all costs” to protect Rubiales after the kiss, according to Paredes, by controlling the media and calling on players to defend the now discredited former president. Bonmati explains how, in interviews with television channels, he was told to “lower tension” and “act as if nothing had happened.”
CNN contacted RFEF and Rubiales’ legal representative for comment on the contents of the documentary but did not receive a response.
Vilda is scheduled to go on trial in February along with Rubiales, who is accused of forcing Hermoso to say the kiss was consensual. His lawyer, Luis Jordana de Pozas, told CNN that neither Wilda nor his entourage would comment on events surrounding last year’s World Cup, including the documentary, until the trial is completed.
Pardos said all the player interviews filmed for the documentary were long, totaling about four hours, and focused on one of the most important stories to affect women’s football. In the end, it is his willingness to speak candidly about the subject that makes this documentary compelling.
“The players have endured years of enforced silence,” Pardos said. “The idea that speaking out or questioning could affect their athletic careers was ingrained in their heads, and breaking the mantra of fear was difficult.”
After the recording, Pardos said he felt the players’ “relief that a heavy burden had been lifted off their shoulders.” Completion is the overriding message in the one-hour, 35-minute documentary, which ends with Hermoso repeating for the last time the phrase that has become synonymous with the World Cup-winning team: “It’s over.”