Free and Combative/ Women / 12 September 2023
On Sunday, September 10 at ten at night, Luis Rubiales posted his resignation letter on his Twitter account with the following words: “I will defend my honourability. I will defend my innocence. I have faith in the future. I have faith in the truth.” Wow, wow. What happened, Luis? The same guy who, a few weeks ago shouted like an orangutan in front of the RFEF leadership, that he was not going to resign under any circumstances, has had to eat his words.
This vomiting sexist didn't want to leave, much less now. He believed himself to be untouchable and that is how he has acted in recent weeks. If he has had to pack his bags, it has been thanks to the struggle of the combative feminist movement, which has raised a tsunami of indignation, rage and fight against him and everything he represents, shouting, "It's over!" We have fired Rubiales!
We are not throwing flowers at each other; it is the honest truth. If it had not been for the hundreds of thousands of women, and also many men who declare themselves feminists and fight with us against sexist violence, who have not allowed this case to be quickly buried and remain as “just another football brawl”, Rubiales would continue in his position. This is what the Football Federation, the sexist judges, the state lawyers sitting in the Sports Administrative Court, the sports media cavern, and all the misogynistic madmen very worried about losing their privileges wanted it. Even with the unfortunate collaboration and hesitant attitude of the PSOE, they have not been able to stop the strength of the feminist movement when it’s put in motion.
Rubiales is one of the most infamous characters in the Spanish sports world. A few days ago, the news came out that he has been convicted for refusing to pay child maintenance to his ex-wife for the care of his daughters. A guy who has been earning up to 80,000 euros per month and in 2020 he earned more than a million euros! We see, now, why feminism for him is a great scourge.
Now, and although we have no confidence in capitalist and patriarchal institutions, Rubiales has been summoned to testify as a defendant following the soccer player's complaint to the Prosecutor's Office and can be convicted of the crime of sexual assault and coercion. But we have already dictated the social sentence: guilty, sleazy, aggressor!
Sexist justice reduces the sentence of a member of ‘wolf pack’ case.
24 hours after learning of Rubiales' resignation, the press surprised us with other information. The Superior Court of Justice of Navarra has reduced the prison sentence of one of the rapists of the Pamplona Pack by one year. The state apparatus and its judiciary justify this decision and call it “reasonable” because, according to them, the Only Yes is Yes Act, already shamefully modified by the PSOE in accordance with the PP, allows it.
As if it were revenge to protect the honour of one of their own, these Rubiales with judiciary robes, these fascists disguised as magistrates, took back the case of the Manada to try to send us a message: you have taken down Rubiales, but do not forget of whoever rules here. What will the Government say now? Will they continue to talk about how justice works and that judicial channels must be respected? Will the PSOE maintain its silence or will it recommend that we accept the patriarchal sentences as it did a few months ago, echoing the discourse of the reaction?
These reactionaries are provocateurs. As experience has shown and the Rubiales case has highlighted it even more, the problem is not the law. The problem is not that the Ministry of Equality wrote it poorly, or that it had legal loopholes. The problem is that the courts, the courts and the hearings are still plagued by Francoists and sexists whose blood boils when women start and advance in rights.
It is no coincidence that they put the condemnation of the ‘wolf pack’ case back on the table. It was precisely the massive social response and the multitudinous purple tide that for months we shouted: it's not abuse, it's rape! the one that promoted and gave birth to the Only Yes is Yes Act, and the one that finally overturned that infamous sentence.
We are not going to stop.
When a few days ago from the streets of the entire country we chanted: let them all fall!, we meant it very seriously. Having overthrown Rubiales is a victory that no one is going to take away from us, and at the same time, the shameful decision of the Navarrese Court reminds us that this system has declared war on us.
We have also declared war on them for a long time: on the sexists, on those who promote rape culture, on the far right, on the exploitative bosses, on the slimy men in civilian clothes, on the bankers who evict us, to the Regime of '78 and all the parties that support it. We want to be free, we want justice for all victims. We're not going to stop until we get it. Patriarchy and capitalism will not fall alone, we are going to bring them down.
