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SEXISM

Spain’s Jenni Hermoso files complaint over Rubiales’ kiss

Spain player Jenni Hermoso has filed a criminal complaint over suspended football chief Luis Rubiales's kiss on her lips at the Women's World Cup final, a source at Spain's public prosecutors office said Wednesday.

Published: 6 September 2023 15:59 CEST
Spain's Jenni Hermoso files complaint over Rubiales' kiss
Spanish player Jenni Hermoso has filed a criminal complaint over the kiss suspended football chief Luis Rubiales gave her on the mouth at the Women's World Cup final, a source at Spain's public prosecutors office said on September 6th. (Photo by STEVE CHRISTO / AFP)

The complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, is key for a preliminary investigation, which prosecutors at Spain’s top criminal court have opened for the alleged crime of “sexual assault”, to move forward.

Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Rubiales sparked a worldwide backlash after forcibly kissing Hermoso during the medal ceremony following Spain’s triumph in Sydney on August 20th.

Hermoso later said the unwanted kiss had left her feeling “vulnerable and like the victim of an assault”, with a statement on social media describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Rubiales insists the kiss was consensual.

The National Court said last week it was opening the preliminary probe in light of the “unequivocal nature” of Hermoso’s statements, saying it was necessary “to determine their legal significance”.

World football governing body FIFA provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days after he refused to resign from his post.

Some 81 players went on strike from the women’s side in protest after the 46-year-old’s fierce defensive speech following the incident, in which he railed against “false feminism”.

The RFEF sacked Spain women’s coach Jorge Vilda on Tuesday in the wake of the scandal.

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FOOTBALL

Rubiales to go on trial in February in Spain over unwanted kiss

Disgraced former Spanish football federation chief Luis Rubiales will stand trial in February next year for his unsolicited kiss on the lips of Women's World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, the court overseeing the process said Monday.

Published: 17 June 2024 14:19 CEST
Rubiales to go on trial in February in Spain over unwanted kiss

Rubiales, 46, provoked worldwide outrage by kissing Hermoso during the medal ceremony after Spain beat England to win the World Cup in Australia last year.

In May a court had ruled Rubiales should be tried for sexual assault over the kiss, and for the alleged coercion subsequently exerted to make her say that it was consensual, without setting a date.

The trial will be held at the Audiencia Nacional, a Madrid court in charge of complex cases, from February 3 to 19, the court said in a statement.

Public prosecutors have requested a sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison for Luis Rubiales — one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion.

The prosecution is also asking for two years’ probation once the sentence has been served and for him to pay €50,000 ($54,000) in compensation to the player.

Rubiales is also under investigation in a separate alleged corruption case involving his reign at the federation, has denied any wrongdoing.

Three of his former associates are also being tried for putting pressure on Hermoso: former women’s coach Jorge Vilda, men’s team director Albert Luque and federation marketing boss Ruben Rivera.

The kiss took place live in front of the world’s cameras, provoking widespread outrage and prompting his suspension by world football governing body FIFA.

At the time, Rubiales brushed it off as “a consensual” peck on the lips, but Hermoso, 34, said it was not.

Under Spanish law, a non-consensual kiss can be classed as sexual assault — a criminal category that groups all types of sexual violence.

Rubiales told private Spanish television station La Sexta in April that he could not understand how the kiss he gave Hermoso could be labelled as sexual assault, saying there was “no sexual context” to it.

He denied accusations that he and other federation officials coerced Hermoso by pressuring her to speak out in his defence after the scandal erupted.

“I have a clear conscience, things have been blown out of proportion,” Rubiales said.

Hermoso filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September, telling the judge she had come under pressure to defend him both on the flight back from Australia and on a subsequent team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.

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