“This girl deserves football without sexist violence”

Jennifer Hermoso received the Socrates prize last night at the Ballon d’Or gala, organized by UEFA and France Football. The Spanish national team player received the award – which recognizes social work and the promotion of equality – in Paris with a demanding speech in favor of protecting women against the machismo that prevails in football.

“Today I woke up remembering the words of a girl who said to me a few days ago: ‘I dream of being a footballer like you.’ In a moment as important as this, the memory of her voice inspires me and encourages me to continue. “This girl deserves women’s football without danger, without gender-based violence,” said the player during her speech. It is for this reason, for all women, that I will continue to be courageous, that I will not stop raising my voice and fighting, relying on my family, my people and all those who have the conviction to play sports in the world is better”

The former footballer of the Tigres de la UANL Femenil de México stressed that as footballers and “actors of society”, athletes have a platform and a unique position to generate positive change in society: “I ask you to please each of you. you who never cease to inspire, on and off the field, and together we will achieve something beautiful that we are proud of. “It’s our dream,” he noted, “that in the future we can have the football that this girl and everyone deserves.”

Hermoso also took the opportunity to share the award with his colleagues and speak out against the inequalities that exist in his work environment. “This award is not only mine, but that of all my colleagues, with whom I share a field where equality is not always a reality. » “For this reason,” she added, “we all work every day with the hope and desire to leave the female audience in a place where we will find it for new generations.”

The non-consensual kiss that Luis Rubiales, then president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, imposed on Hermoso during the celebration of the World Cup in August 2023, and the public and legal complaint of the young woman that followed, have sparked in Spain the # SeAcabó Movement, against the impunity of sexual and sexist abuse and attacks that women face at work. The prosecution requested two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, as well as an additional year and a half for Jorge Vilda, then coach of the national team, for putting pressure on Hermoso.