‘Kissgate’ Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales’s mother says she is prepared to die to ‘get justice for my son’ as her hunger strike enter second day

The mother of ‘Kissgate’, Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales, has said she is willing to die to get ‘justice’ for her son as her hunger strike enters a second day.

Retired hairdresser Angeles Bejar launched her hunger strike yesterday morning at a church in the Costa resort of Motril, near Malaga.

She told a Spanish TV station in a dramatic WhatsApp exchange from her religious retreat, “I’m staying here as long as my body can last. I don’t mind dying for justice because my son is a decent person and what they’re doing isn’t fair.”

It was alleged that she sneaked into the Divina Pastora church near her first-floor apartment overnight by telling a cleaner she was going to “go and say a prayer” for Luis, who is now facing criminal charges. investigation in his home country for kissing player Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory over England in Australia last week.

Angeles, 72, allegedly took advantage of the moment the cleaning lady entered the church to mop the floor and dust the benches. The feisty OAP chose her moment while the priest was on vacation, a Spanish resident claimed.

She stayed in this morning with her sister-in-law Mari Carmen, while a doctor is expected to make another visit later to check that Angeles is okay if she decides to go ahead with her extraordinary protest.

It is believed she drinks fluids, and reports of water and isotonic drinks in the church suggest she could stay indoors for several more days.

The whereabouts of her son, who has been suspended by FIFA for 90 days, is unknown.

He traveled to Motril for a holiday on Saturday despite the cancellation by the town hall of a football match he was due to take part in with friends at a municipal stadium for “security reasons”.

He is said to have met up with some of his football buddies at a country house just outside the city on Saturday afternoon, but he has not been seen in public since he shocked the world by refusing to leave at an extraordinary general meeting of the Spanish Football Federation last Friday to act.

Family friend Maria Mora has claimed that Luis has trouble talking to his mother.

She claimed yesterday: “He’s very worried, he’s having a terrible day because he hasn’t been able to talk to her and he feels terrible.

“He doesn’t know what to do because to him his mother is the most important person in the world and she’s in that church.

“He can’t communicate with her or do anything with her.”

A mass will be held at the church tonight and it is unclear if police will return to the church today to convince Angeles to end her protest.

The priest is said to have shortened his vacation, but has so far declined to comment.

Motril’s second most senior police officer went to church yesterday and spoke to both Angeles and the doctor who treated her.

He said afterwards, “She’s doing well, considering her age.”

Prosecutors at Spain’s Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid have opened a preliminary investigation into the post-World Cup kiss that has shocked the football world amid allegations it was abuse of power and assault.

They also offered Jenni Hermoso, who insisted she did not give Rubiales permission to kiss her, the chance to take part in legal action against the 46-year-old divorced father of three, who claimed their kiss was consensual .

Spanish football federation regional leaders called on Rubiales, who apologized for grabbing his crotch in front of Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter Sofia during the same post-game festivities in Sydney, to resign at an emergency meeting in Madrid yesterday.

All 23 players of Spain’s World Cup-winning side have said they will not play international matches as long as Rubiales remains in his post.

Yesterday, Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz joined the row over the football boss’s behavior, saying it “showed the worst of Spanish society”.

Two of Rubiales’ cousins ​​were among those who came to the church yesterday where his mother is on hunger strike to defend him.

Vanesa Ruiz Bejar emphasized: “There is a campaign of intimidation taking place that is very unfair.

The mother of ‘Luis’, a very religious person, has sought refuge with God and has started a hunger strike.

“She doesn’t want to leave the church. We all suffer a lot because of what happened to Luis, which doesn’t seem fair to us at all.

“He has already been convicted without trial. It is not normal. We don’t want to be left alone. The facts speak for them, there are videos, there are audio recordings.’

In a direct message to player Jenni Hermoso, she added, “Jenni, tell the truth.”

“Why did she change her version three times? We have suffered a lot, we have had to leave our homes because of the harassment we suffer.

“We don’t want to be left alone and see justice done, and we want this woman to tell the truth. Jenni, “tell the truth!”

She went on to say that Angeles Bejar, Luis’ mother, was in a very distressed condition, adding, “She is an elderly lady whose health is very fragile and she is suffering a lot.

“She cries all the time, can’t sleep and doesn’t eat.

“The person who spends five minutes with Luis knows that he is a very good person with a big heart. He is a very noble person.’

When asked when the hunger strike would continue in Angeles, she said, referring to Jenni Hermoso, “Until that woman speaks and tells the truth. I’m not saying who’s the bad guy here and who’s the good one, but I just want Jenni to tell the truth.’

Jenni, 33, who plays for Mexico’s Pachuca, said in a statement about the kiss: “I want to make it clear that at no point did the conversation Mr Luis Rubiales refers to take place, much less that his kiss was with mutual consent was.

“In the same way, I want to reiterate that I did at the time that what happened was not fun.

“The situation shocked me because of the context of the celebration, and as time went on and those initial feelings were allowed to sink in, I feel the need to denounce this, as I feel that no one, in any workspace, , sports or social, should be victims of this age of illicit behavior.

“I felt vulnerable and a victim of aggression, an impulsive act, sexist, misguided and without any kind of consent on my part. In short, I was not respected.’