15th May 2024
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Rubiales’ mother discharged from hospital after ending hunger strike in church

The mother of Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) who is currently suspended by FIFA and embroiled in the uproar of him forcibly kissing a player during Spain’s World Cup triumph, has been discharged from hospital – after being taken there on Wednesday, the third day of her hunger strike.

Spain’s EFE news agency said that Ángeles Béjar had responded satisfactorily to treatment before being discharged and was accompanied by her son when she left the hospital.

Béjar, who had begun her protest on Monday inside the Divina Pastora church in the southern seaside town of Motril (Andalusia) was evacuated and taken to hospital by the emergency services, parish priest Antonio Rodriguez told reporters on Wednesday.

‘I have to tell you she had a crisis and had to be rushed to hospital. She is no longer here,’ said the priest, adding that Béjar was ‘tired, with many (health) problems, not just the emotional stress.’ 

‘Her feet had become swollen and she was very tired. She had also become very anxious,’ he said.

Béjar had said her protest would continue until the ‘inhumane, bloodthirsty witch hunt which my son is being subjected to’ came to an end. 

Rubiales’ mother had promised to stay locked up in the church until Jenni Hermoso, the player who was kissed on the mouth by her son, ‘tells the truth’ about what happened, a family member explained.

‘This harassment is not fair. His mother, who is very religious, found refuge with God. She has started a hunger strike and does not want to leave the church,’ her niece Vanessa Ruíz Béjar had said on Monday.

Rubiales, 46, grew up in Motril and his father was the resort town’s former mayor.

FIFA suspended him on Saturday after he forcefully kissed Hermoso on the mouth after Spain won the Women’s World Cup in Australia on 20 August, sparking an outcry. ALSO READ: FIFA provisionally suspends Rubiales, as RFEF threatens to sue protesting female players.

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