FIFA Flop in the Shadow of Qatar
Crisis Communications Lessons from FIFA’s Response to the Infamous World Cup Kiss
By Rudy Wong and Helen Fergueson
Associate
Associate
Last month, the Spanish women’s national soccer team captured its first FIFA World Cup title. Jubilation around the team’s historic achievement quickly turned to anger and frustration, however, when during the medal ceremony, Luis Rubiales, then president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), kissed Jenni Hermoso, a player on the Spanish national team, on the lips.
Following the ceremony, Hermoso stated during an Instagram Live post that she “didn’t like” the kiss – leading to an onslaught of backlash aimed at Rubiales. For instance, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez characterized Rubiales’ behavior as “unacceptable,” and Megan Rapinoe, an outspoken soccer player for the U.S. women’s national team, claimed that Rubiales’ conduct reflected a “deep level of misogyny and sexism.”
Despite the heavy criticism, on August 25th, five days after the incident took place, Rubiales insisted that the kiss was “spontaneous, mutual, and consensual,” and that he was the target of a “social assassination.”
Later that day, Hermoso responded with her own public statement, in which she refuted Rubiales’ account of the incident and said she was “a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out of place act without any consent.” On September 10th, after facing three weeks of fierce criticism, Rubiales resigned from his position as president of RFEF.
FIFA’s Response
Despite the public outcry surrounding the incident, soccer’s international governing body and World Cup organizer – the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, more commonly known as FIFA – didn’t have much to say.
After several days of silence, it brought two disciplinary actions against Rubiales:
First, on August 24th – four days after Rubiales’ kiss – FIFA announced in a short statement that it had opened “disciplinary proceedings” against Rubiales, adding that “FIFA reiterates its unwavering commitment to respecting the integrity of all individuals and strongly condemns any behaviour to the contrary.”
Then, on August 26th – one day after Hermoso declared she did not give Rubiales consent to kiss her – FIFA announced that it had issued a 90-day provisional suspension to Rubiales, barring him from all national and international level soccer-related activities and from contacting or attempting to contact Hermoso. FIFA reiterated “its absolute commitment to respect the integrity of all persons” and that it “condemns with the utmost vigour any behaviour to the contrary.”
Lessons Learned
At first blush, FIFA appeared to completely botch its response. It failed to both directly condemn Rubiales’ behavior and explicitly convey support and empathy for Hermoso – likely leaving many soccer fans disappointed and questioning whether FIFA genuinely supports Hermoso.
Upon further review, however, we question whether FIFA was more calculating than the governing body appeared. Perhaps its leaders determined that FIFA lacked the credibility to make the type of profound statement many of its fans had probably hoped for. In other words, such a statement would’ve rung hollow.
Specifically, perhaps FIFA’s decision to issue a generic statement (versus a fulsome and empathetic one) reflects its sensitivity to self-inflicted wounds stemming from its decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – a decision that drew significant backlash due to Qatar’s history of human rights abuses, including the country’s severe mistreatment of women. Given this recent history, FIFA may have calculated that stating it “does not tolerate” Rubiales’ behavior – or using similarly assertive language – would have opened the door for critics to point out FIFA’s hypocrisy. If minimizing accusations of hypocrisy was one of the governing body’s goals, FIFA appears to have succeeded. Case in point: to date, the organization has avoided significant public backlash regarding its statements.
However, while FIFA may have staved off criticism for the time being, it sacrificed (or missed) an opportunity to begin controlling the narrative regarding its commitment to “respect[ing] the integrity of all persons” and “condemn[ing] with the utmost vigour any behaviour to the contrary.” Eventually, FIFA must decide how committed it is to changing its reputation that, in large part, has been shaped by its partnership with Qatar. If it’s serious about doing so, tepid statements – such as the ones it made regarding its disciplinary actions against Rubiales – won’t cut it.
Changing perceptions doesn’t happen overnight. FIFA should begin thinking about the long game – and ultimately, start taking advantage of opportunities to make and reinforce its decisive actions.