Mother of Soccer Boss Begins Hunger Strike, Is Hospitalized

The mother of the Spanish soccer official under investigation for kissing a player at the Women's World Cup has been hospitalized after going on a hunger strike to protest the accusations against her son. Angeles Bejar locked herself in a church in Motril, southern Spain, on Monday, saying the "inhuman and bloody hunt that they are doing with my son is something he does not deserve." The BBC reports that Bejar had said the hunger strike would go on indefinitely. A priest said she's now been taken to a hospital in Motril, the town where she raised Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation, per Reuters.

"She had not been feeling well because of the heat and everything else," the priest said. "Her feet had become swollen and she was very tired. She had also become very nervous." Rubiales has refused to resign despite increasing pressure to quit after the kiss that he insists was consensual and that Jenni Hermoso maintains was not. One of the latest expressions of support for Hermoso has come from the United Nations Human Rights office, which said everyone should "call out and challenge" sexual harassment and abuse, per the BBC. (More Spain stories.)