Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
The trial of former Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales for the infamous Jenni Hermoso kiss ended on Friday.
The judge Jose Manuel Clemente Fernandez Prieto will render a decision and possibly sentence within a few months following the 10 days of testimony in the Madrid area courthouse.
The judge made a joke after Rubiales and three other accused of pressuring Hermoso gave up their right to give final statements.
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Luis Rubiales was accused of sexual abuse for kissing Hermoso after Spain won the women’s World Cup, in Australia in 2023. Rubiales also faces charges of coercion and coercion by trying to get the player to minimize the incident.
Hermoso, 34 says she didn’t consent, but Rubiales,47, denies the kiss was wrong and claims it was consensual.
The prosecution wants Rubiales to spend two and a half years in prison, one year on sexual assault charges and 18 months on the charge of coercion against Hermoso.
Along with Rubiales, former women’s national football team coach Jorge Vilda is also accused. Two other ex-officials of the Spanish Football Federation are also named.
The prosecution is seeking 18 months in prison for these men.
Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips and then slapped her back with two slaps.
Hermoso told the opening day of the trial she felt ‘disrespected’ after a non-consensual kiss that ‘should not happen in any social or work setting’.
Rubiales told the court on Tuesday he was ‘totally sure’ Hermoso consented to the kiss and denied he had put pressure on her after the incident.
“She squeezed me very tightly under my armpits, she lifted me, and when I came down I asked her if I can give you a kiss, and she said ‘OK’, that’s what happened,” he said, describing the kiss as ‘an act of affection’.
Rubiales conceded he ‘made a mistake’ on the podium and his behaviour ‘was not appropriate’ but denied committing any offence.
He minimised the importance of the kiss on Hermoso at the time and defied calls for his resignation at an emergency federation meeting in August 2023, railing against what he called ‘false feminism’.
Rubiales quit the following month, after FIFA had suspended him and prosecutors began an investigation regarding an alleged sexual abuse.
