The president of the Spanish Football Federation was criticized for kissing a female player

Rubiales was on stage at the FIFA awards ceremony after the 2023 Women's World Cup final on August 20 with other officials, including FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Queen Letizia of Spain and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

On the podium, after presenting the medal, Rubiales hugged, put his hands on his head and kissed Hermoso on the lips. The RFEF President then patted the back as the 11th player left.

Rubiales appears to be romantically involved with Hermoso. In the Instagram live video of winger Salma Paralluelo, Rubiales walks into the dressing room after the final and tells the Spanish players that the RFEF will cover the entire trip to Ibiza, and that's where he will marry Hermoso.

CNN has reached out to Hermoso representatives and RFEF members in Australia about the incident, but has not yet received a response. However, in an Instagram live video, when asked about the RFEF President's kiss, Hermoso said "I don't like it".

But on Radio Marca, Rubiales said that these were just "two people showing affection gently" and did not care about "stupid people", referring to those who were outraged by his behavior. "We are champions and that's what I care about," added the RFEF President.

El Confidencial journalist Alberto Ortega criticized Rubiales for wanting to be the center of attention and that kissing Hermoso on the lips was "disgusting". Daily Mirror correspondent Colin Millar stressed the RFEF Chairman's behavior was "not okay".

In addition to Hermoso, Rubiales also celebrated excessively with many others, such as kissing on the cheek or hugging some players when receiving medals. He then joined the celebration with a group of members of the team, then kissed Olga Carmona on the cheek - who scored the only goal in the final against England.

Rubiales is a former player, grew up at Atletico's youth academy, won the Spanish Second Division with Levante in 2004 and went up to play in La Liga.

After retiring in 2009, Rubiales was elected President of the Association of Spanish Players and was elected President of RFEF in May 2018. One of Rubiales' first big decisions was to fire coach Julen Lopetegui just before Spain's 2018 World Cup, because this coach surreptitiously reached an agreement to lead Real Madrid.