I know little about football and am even less interested. I’m not into scarves either. They oppress. All of them: political, sports, and others. But this week, driven solely by journalistic morbid curiosity, your humble servant has been fascinated by Florentino Pérez’s histrionics. What a performance. And what a hangover.
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One of the offshoots of the Real Madrid president’s Tuesday spectacle has landed in the territory of women and feminism. The white Caesar dismissed the columnist of the ABC newspaper María José Fuentálamo as “the woman who doesn’t know if she knows about football.” He directly renamed Fox Sports presenter Lola Hernández as the “girl”: “Let that girl ask, the rest of you are very ugly.”
A classic Iberian scene with Trumpian echoes: the powerful man convinced there is wit in paternalism.
The guardians of the catechism jumped onto the field in seconds. Irene Montero headed on X against the “señoros” and certified that it deserved the label of “epic macho display.” Minister Ana Redondo, more institutional, spoke of “crusty and anachronistic machismo.” Simultaneous translation: Florentino needs a software update and a new repertoire of little jokes.
And yes, those two comments exude that old-fashioned machismo of an important man and endless after-dinner talk. Florentino has power, money, and is 79 years old. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything in other men with one, two, or all three of those same attributes. But in him, yes. The question is, if we already knew that, why so much astonishment?
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What the Real Madrid president said to female journalists betrays him
Perhaps the most interesting thing is not those outbursts, but the reaction of those affected. Fuentálamo wrote in ABC: “Offended? Not at all.” And she added something much smarter than many comments from MEPs and ministers: that certain comments slide off her quite a bit and that if anything, they make her tired. “Again? Hadn’t we already passed this stage?” An infinite tiredness and at the same time relief. Because what Florentino verbalized confirms that certain mentalities remain anchored deep in the marrow of society, and that women do well to keep fighting both professionally and personally.
Thank you, Florentino, for the reminder.
“At that moment I didn’t even register the ‘girl’ comment. I just wanted to ask about the Mexican (Riquelme),” said Lola Hernández, 54 years old with thirty years of career, on Mañaneros on TVE. Later, the Fox presenter recalled Jesús Gil, Rubiales… and all that national dead weight that has turned certain club leaders (and not only them) into museum pieces. And she ended by claiming the professionalism of female sports journalists, who fortunately are more and more every day and making a strong impact.
“What saddens me the most is that you only call me to comment on the anecdote and not the Madrid crisis.” Great, Lola.
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