BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s acting prime minister praised the country’s Women’s World Cup champions during an audience at the presidential palace on Tuesday and later slammed the head of the Spanish football federation for kissing a team member on the lips without her consent.

“You have achieved something very important. The girls who watch you see soccer as a place where they can develop athletically and personally,” Pedro Sánchez said while posing for a group photo with the soccer team in Madrid. “The 21st century will be the century of women on all fronts, and the century of effective equality between men and women.”

Sánchez said the team members will be awarded Spain’s golden medal of sports achievement in honour of their 1-0 victory on Sunday in the final against England in Sydney, Australia.

Gender equality and women’s rights have been cornerstones of Sánchez’s leftist government. But Spain’s Women’s World Cup success has been marred by the forced kiss on the lips that Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales gave to player Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony following the final.

After claiming that those who criticised his kiss were “idiots and stupid people,” Rubiales was forced to apologise on Monday.

“What we saw is unacceptable,” Sánchez said later Tuesday. “And the apologies offered by Mr Rubiales are not sufficient, I would call them inappropriate, so he must continue taking further steps to clarify what we all saw.”

Rubiales accompanied the team and staff to the meeting with Sánchez, who greeted him with a handshake.

The forced kiss caused an immediate outcry both inside Spain and abroad. Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz said Rubiales “has harassed and assaulted” a woman and called for his resignation.

The country’s equality minister said it was an act of “sexual assault.” Under a new sexual violence law, the unsolicited kiss, during which Rubiales grabbed Hermoso’s face before giving her a kiss on the mouth, could potentially be pursued as a crime.

Immediately after Spain’s victory, Rubiales also grabbed his crotch in a victory gesture. That occurred with 16-year-old Princess Infanta Sofía and Queen Letizia of Spain standing nearby.

The country’s leading opposition party has joined in denouncing Rubiales’ behavior, leaving him without any support from major public or political figures.

Asked if Rubiales should go, Sánchez said that it was not his call to make because the Spanish football federation is not controlled by the government. But Sánchez did say Rubiales “has yet to be clear and compelling in his apologies.”

Spain’s players union, which Rubiales used to head, issued a statement on Tuesday calling for Spain’s Higher Council for Sports, which oversees Spanish sports, to act against Rubiales if he does not step down. The union cited Spain’s sports law that sanctions acts that “damage the dignity” of someone or “creates an atmosphere of intimidation” based on unwanted conduct related to gender or race.

“The incident regarding Jenni Hermoso is especially grave since she finds herself in a situation of vulnerability before a person in a position of power,” the union said. “A once-in-a-lifetime celebration for the Spanish players has been overshadowed by the improper behavior of the federation president.”