Prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half-year sentence for former Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales, who said he made a mistake by kissing Jenni Hermoso after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final but denied committing any offence
Former Spanish FA chief Luis Rubiales has told a court Jenni Hermoso gave him consent before kissing her after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
The 47-year-old has been in court this week after being accused of sexual assault by kissing Spanish international Hermoso on the lips without her permission following Spain’s 1-0 triumph over England in the final. He is also accused of trying to coerce Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual.
Prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half-year sentence for Rubiales, who said he made a mistake but denied committing any offence.
Hermoso has already spoken in the trial to claim she felt “abused”, denying she consented to the kiss and saying the moment had “stained one of the happiest days of my life”.
Rubiales has now insisted he did have consent while testifying in Madrid. He said: “I am absolutely sure that she gave me her permission. In that moment it was something completely spontaneous.
“This was a tremendous moment for her. We were thanking each other, she pressed me very hard around the waist and then I asked her whether I could give her a kiss and she said yes. I took hold of her so as not to fall back.”
Rubiales was then quizzed on if he asked her for a kiss or a “little kiss”. He replied: “I can’t remember exactly. But I think it was a little kiss.”
He added: “I clearly made a mistake and as president of the federation put my foot in it. I behaved like a player celebrating a sporting triumph, as just another person in the group. I should have thought more and acted in a more institutional manner, but no way was it a crime.”
Rubiales confessed he had tried to persuade the women’s football star to agree to the “ideal situation” of backing him as the fallout from the kiss escalated into a full-blown crisis that put his job at risk.
Former Spain’s World Cup women’s team manager Jorge Vilda, ex-men’s team director Albert Luque and former Spanish FA marketing director Ruben Rivera are Rubiales’ co-defendants are accused of involvement in coercion of Hermoso.
It came after Hermoso took the witness stand to give her account of the scandal as she told of her shock when Rubiales kissed her.
“From the first day it was clear to me I wanted to denounce what happened. I told him, ‘What a blast we’ve had’ and he replied: ‘We’ve won this World Cup thanks to you’. He put his hands on his ears and then came the kiss. It was a thousandth of a second. I felt it was totally out of context. My boss was kissing me and what was happening shouldn’t occur in any working context.”
When asked if she felt “abused”, she replied: “Yes, I felt very little respect. Luis Rubiales never asked if I wanted a kiss before he kissed me. It was a moment that stained one of the happiest days of my life.”
She went on to allege that a statement was shown to her by a press officer that she was supposed to have written herself, but denied being involved.
“I skim-read it and said and knew I hadn’t written a word of it. It was a statement I had supposedly drafted myself and consented to being put out to fan the flames of the fuss that was being created by the kiss. The statement said Luis Rubiales and I were good friends and the kiss happened in the effusiveness of the moment. I said I didn’t agree to it going out.”
She added that Rubiales approached her during the flight back to Spain asking her to record a video with him to social media in response to the backlash, which she refused.
Hermoso added: “I felt totally unprotected in what should have been a safe place for me which was my team. No-one asked me if I needed anything.
“The only thing Luis Rubiales and his aides did was to try to protect their reputation. From the first moment I reached Spain I had cameras after me 24 hours, people following me, people taking photos while I was having breakfast with my family.
“I had to leave Madrid with my family. I felt fear at times of being in the street. I received death threats and messages of all types and we had to leave Madrid because the situation was unbearable.. It was a change in my life and I still say my life changed from that minute.”
When asked how many times she had been asked to put out a statement in support of Rubiales, she responded: “Too many to count. The situation prevented me from enjoying being a World Champion.”
The trial, which is taking place without a jury, is set to proceed until February 19, with a verdict expected at the end of the month.
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