The head of the RFEF inexplicably grabbed the Spanish Women’s World Cup winner and kissed her as she came up to collect her medal following the 1-0 win over England.
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Midfielder Hermoso, who saw her penalty saved by Mary Earps in the Sydney final, complained “I did not enjoy that” as Rubiales was widely criticised.
However, he initially hit out at “idiots” claiming they misinterpreted the behaviour which he said was a “minor show of affection”.
Ex-Hamilton Academical defender Rubiales, 45, told radio Marca: “The kiss with Jenni? There are idiots everywhere.
“When two people have a minor show of affection, we can’t listen to idiocy.
“We are champions and that’s what I’ll take.”
But now the football administrator has backed down and confessed his actions were wrong.
Rubiales said in a subsequent message on Spanish TV: “There is something I regret and it’s over something that happened between a female player and myself who enjoy a magnificent relationship the same as I have with other women players.
“Certainly I made a mistake and I have to acknowledge that.
“It was done without any ill intention in a moment of the highest exuberance.
“Here we saw it as natural and normal but outside it has caused a commotion.
“I have no choice but to apologise and to learn from this and take more care when representing the federation.”
Spain’s interim sports minister Miquel Iceta had earlier demanded Rubiales said sorry.
He said: “I think it is unacceptable to kiss a player on the lips to congratulate her.
“The first thing he has to do is to give explanations and make apologies, it is the logical and reasonable thing to do.”
In a strange RFEF statement on Sunday evening, they claimed Hermoso said she has a “great relationship” with the president and “his behaviour has been outstanding”.
Rubiales was also the centre of attention for his antics by entering the Spanish women’s team dressing room after the result and grabbing his crotch in the VIP seats.
While there he declared he would pay for a trip to Ibiza and vowed to marry Hermoso, 33.
Rubiales has also drawn anger for backing controversial manager Jorge Vilda.
The Spain boss reportedly banned players from locking their hotel rooms before midnight in 2019, as he wanted to carry out room checks.
He was also accused of forcing players to reveal the contents of their bags at training and treating players like “children”.
Vilda, 42, has been continuously backed by Rubiales, who called him “world-class”, despite concerns from players over the culture within the Spain team.
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