Suspended Spanish Soccer Boss’ Mom Hospitalized on Third Day of Hunger Strike
‘VERY TIRED’
The mother of the disgraced Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales was hospitalized on the third day of a hunger strike protesting the treatment of her son, a local priest said. Angeles Bejar had locked herself in the priest’s church in southern Spain and vowed to strike “as long as my body can take it” after Rubiales was sidelined by FIFA. The soccer chief was suspended following a kiss he forcibly planted on star midfielder Jenni Hermoso during the presentation ceremony for Spain’s World Cup win earlier this month. Despite nationwide calls for his resignation, Rubiales, 46, refused to back down, insisting that the kiss was consensual. He was suspended by FIFA on Saturday; two days later, his mother, a retired hairdresser, launched her hunger strike. The priest told reporters that Bejar had been taken to a hospital in her hometown of Motril on Wednesday evening. “She had not been feeling well because of the heat and everything else,” he said, Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo reported. “Her feet had become swollen and she was very tired.” The hospital would not confirm if Bejar had been admitted, according to Reuters.