Holding out for the bare minimum

Men's football continues to have the perfect opportunity to speak up for Jenni Hermoso but keeps failing to live up to the smallest possible expectations.

It was either Bonnie Tyler or Jennifer Saunders, but one of them asked, ‘Where have all the good men gone?’

Certainly, it didn’t seem that the answer lay in Monaco on Thursday as UEFA conducted the final-ever Champions League group stage draw and gave away its annual awards.

We have come to learn over the years not to expect any sports governing body to be the arbiters of morality or even just show basic human decency towards people within their own organisation. Quite frankly it’s usually a bit of a miracle when they can govern their own sport properly.

Sometimes though we can expect those within the sport, when given the stage to do so, to speak up about issues within it even sometimes when they don’t directly affect those speaking.

One might have hoped that any of the men given the platform in Monaco might have stuck their head above the parapet and given their support to Jenni Hermoso after what has been a maddening couple of weeks since helping Spain win the World Cup.

The Spanish FA preferred to risk screwing over their clubs, their fans and even themselves, as they defended Luis Rubiales with such gusto that they threatened to report themselves to UEFA for the government getting involved, rather than admonish the man who sexually assaulted one of their own players for the world to see, after the final win over England.

You’d think considering the ongoing nature of this quite frankly ridiculous and horrifying story that there’d be some sort of support for Hermoso on Thursday. Fortunately, there was, with the winner of the Coach of the Year using their platform to speak up in support of the forward and her teammates.

Unfortunately for all of us, it was left to the winner of the Women’s award, Sarina Wiegman. Thankfully UEFA picked her as the victor rather than Spain’s manager Jorge Vilda, with the national team becoming world champions in spite of him and not because of their manager.

On receiving her award the Dutchwoman said: “We all know the issues around the Spanish team.”

“It really hurts me as a coach, a mother of two daughters, as a wife and human being. And it shows, the game has grown so much, but there is a long way to go in women's football and society.

“I would like to dedicate this award to the Spanish team, the team that played such great football that everyone enjoyed.”

There are plenty of times when women should be given the space to speak ahead of men. Back in March, my then-boss suggested I write something about women’s football for International Women’s Day. I was happy to do so because it was an area I felt we should cover more. I was pretty happy with what I wrote, and still stand by many of the points. However an old friend of mine pointed out that it wasn’t very in keeping with the day to speak on behalf of women, that space should have been used for someone else.

With the Hermoso issue though it needs more men, specifically those in positions of power and influence in football, i.e. managers and players, to speak out against Rubiales.

There were players virtually lining up to send messages of support to Benjamin Mendy when the former Manchester City full-back was acquitted of rape and attempted rape charges. Players who’d never had anything to do with Mendy during his career, they just wanted to be seen showing support. Where was that same support for Hermoso? No one took the ‘risk’ of receiving online abuse for backing the World Cup winner and calling out the President of the Spanish FA.

With a vacuum larger than the one Manchester United managed to create by not making a decision on Mason Greenwood until the latest possible moment, another depressing situation that proved football barely cares about women and has rather ironically ended with the forward moving to Spain, it was Rubiales himself who sadly became the highest profile man to speak about the situation.

On Friday evening, the former Hamilton Academicals player put out a statement, he again claimed that both he and Hermoso ‘felt even the slightest discomfort,’ despite everything the player has said since. Again the 46-year-old claimed that he was the victim and alleged that his evidence would clear his name.

Most disgustingly the suspended head of the Spanish FA claimed that his case was important ‘for all the real victims of aggression’ and for ‘advancing the feminism cause.’ The gaslighting and misogyny running through those comments would land him on Andrew Tate’s podcast. It’s truly horrific not only to paint himself on the side of women and feminism but to suggest Hermoso isn’t a ‘real’ victim of sexual assault or that his attack would help those who are ‘real’ is just the lowest of the low.

Spain’s women becoming world champions for the first time should have been a national celebration. The country has taken to the women’s game in such a brilliant way that twice the Nou Camp has seen attendances of over 90,000 for Barcelona vs. Real Madrid and more than 60,000 packed into the Wanda Metropolitano for Atletico Madrid’s game with Barca in 2019, a then world record.

Instead the near two weeks since that brilliant victory, thanks to Olga Carmona’s excellent strike in the first half, have been totally dominated by the disgusting and continued behaviour of one man, Rubiales.

Whilst he has stolen the headlines it also falls on everyone else to not have done more to speak up against him, highlighted by Spain men’s team manager Luis de la Fuente having to apologise for having applauded one of Rubiales’ recent speeches about the incident.

Whilst women’s football doesn’t need a man to be its hero it could certainly do with a lot less of the ogres and a bit more of the bare minimum.