Former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has been convicted of sexually assaulting participant Jenni Hermoso by kissing her after the 2023 Girls’s World Cup last. The court docket sentenced Rubiales to a wonderful exceeding €10,000 ($10,400) and imposed a restraining order, prohibiting him from approaching Hermoso inside 200 meters or contacting her for one yr.
Rubiales was acquitted of coercion prices associated to his makes an attempt to downplay the kiss through the awards ceremony in Sydney. The incident, which occurred after Spain’s first Girls’s World Cup title, ignited widespread outrage throughout Spain and past.
Throughout the two-week trial, Rubiales asserted that Hermoso had consented to the kiss. Nevertheless, Hermoso denied this declare, stating that she felt disrespected by the act. She additionally testified that she was pressured into recording a video with Rubiales to downplay the incident.
Prosecutors had sought a jail sentence of two and a half years for Rubiales—one yr for sexual assault and an extra yr and a half for coercion. Additionally they beneficial related sentences for 3 different former Spanish federation officers accused of coercion: former ladies’s crew coach Jorge Vilda, males’s crew sports activities director Albert Luque, and head of selling Ruben Rivera. All 4 defendants had been acquitted of the coercion prices.
Rubiales resigned as president of the Spanish soccer federation three weeks after the scandal emerged and was subsequently banned by FIFA for 3 years. He had beforehand described himself as a sufferer of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.”
In his testimony, Rubiales expressed remorse over the kiss, acknowledging that it was inappropriate for a nationwide federation president. He maintained, nonetheless, that it shouldn’t be thought-about sexual assault.
The incident has been described as one of the embarrassing scandals within the historical past of Spanish soccer, prompting widespread discussions about respect and consent throughout the sport.
