He escalated it. A straightforward apology would have have minimised the damage to him and wouldn't have spoiled the party when they got back to Spain with a World Cup.
Instead he did what he always did, he lied, bluffed and bullied. He then used his position of authority to get his minions to do his dirty work and lie to the press and threaten legal action against the player. Why did he do that? Because he's used to getting away with things, because doubling down has worked for him.
You say, you knew nothing about about him beforehand - but you reckon you can judge him and her based on a couple of seconds of video. The woman stood next to him on the podium (from the English FA) had a harsher judgment of his behaviour, based on what she observed that night. The women who've worked with him have a harsher judgment based on long observations of his behaviour away from the cameras.
I get that you feel that you know more than the people involved on the night and the people who know his history. Rubiales' plight has clearly moved you so much that you've come out of six months hibernation from the site to post in this thread - but I've lived a long time as well. Like any narcissist Rubiales went smoothly from saying people were idiots for complaining to self-justifying bluffing through to bullying - because that's what he has always done.
As I have said numerous times on this thread that my opinion is based solely on the video evidence presented. The video above shows more of the interaction from a different angle and it confirms my initial opinion on the matter. He embraces her, she jokingly attempts to lift him, he exaggerates the lift by raising his legs off the floor , they briefly embrace, he kisses her on the lips and she pats him and moves down the line to embrace the other person. I did not see anything sexual in any of the gestures and I was and still am astounded that a man might lose his liberty for an incident, that was ill-judged but surely not criminal. My comments were based on that singular interaction, nothing more and nothing less.
Rubiales' plight has clearly moved you so much that you've come out of six months hibernation from the site to post in this thread - but I've lived a long time as well.
It is a topic that intrigues me and I have a unique perspective on situations like these because I was once falsely accused of sexual harassment by a third party. The accusations were ignored because it was part of a wider set of allegations that involved others which no one in the organisation wanted to deal with. I had to threaten legal action to have the accusations investigated properly and when interviewed the persons told the truth , that I did not harass them and that our differences were solely work-related. It was not a pleasant time waiting for vindication, seeing the smirks and hearing the comments while knowing that I did nothing to deserve such treatment and the real fear that the persons might be coopted into the lies for their own benefit. The vindication however was never widely circulated as the accusations. There is not a day that I do not remember it.
I can also see the other side in that if the accusations made against me were indeed true, the victims would have had an equally difficult time in getting their stories heard. I have many friends who would have detailed to me their personal experiences of sexual abuse and even rape. None of these friends ever reported these incidents. I believe that accusations should be taken seriously and investigated with rigour but the possibility of persons manipulating the system for their own personal gain cannot be ignored. Women like men also have the capacity to lie and manipulate situations for their own benefit. This is why we have burdens of proof.
Rubiales behaviour was ill-judged and not exactly what I would have expected from a Senior FA official and I will not lose any sleep if he is jailed for any legitimate crimes he has committed. But this does not pass the smell test and is likely to create certain precedents that run counter to natural justice
