Luis Rubiales convicted of sexual assault for Jenni Hermoso World Cup forced kiss

Luis Rubiales, the former Spanish Football Federation president, has been convicted of sexual assault for the forced kiss on footballer Jenni Hermoso. 

The incident occurred as the players were collecting their winners' medals after the 2023 World Cup Final, which Spain won by beating England, in Sydney, Australia. 

Rubiales has been handed a sentence of a fine, equivalent to €20 per day for 18 months. In total, the fine will be worth €10,800.

The ruling prohibits Rubiales from approaching Hermoso within a radius of 200 meters and communicating with her for a year.

The former official has been absolved of coercion, however, which he had also been accused of, for allegedly pressuring the player and her family for Hermoso to appear in a video alongside Rubiales to calm the controversy that had begun in the wake of the kiss incident. 

In his sentence, the magistrate José Manuel Fernández-Prieto acquits Rubiales and the other three accused of coercion: the former women's national team coach, Jorge Vilda, the former director of football of the men's section, Albert Luque, and the marketing director, Rubén Rivera.

The prosecutor's office of the National Court had requested a total sentence of 2 years and 6 months in prison for Rubiales, one year for the crime of sexual assault and another year and a half for coercion.

Rubiales will appeal the sentence to the Criminal Chamber of the National Court.

Trial

Speaking in court in February, Rubiales admitted that he "was wrong" in his behavior in kissing a player while he was president of the Federation. "I behaved like an athlete who had just won a title, and for that, I made a mistake." 

Despite that, Rubiales assures there was consent for the kiss.

During her testimony, Jenni Hermoso reiterated that she never consented to the kiss. "I was unable to react at any time," she said.

"I felt that it was completely out of context, that my boss was kissing me, and that should not happen in any social or work environment," she said in her testimony.

Hermoso also recounted the pressure she received from Rubiales and his entourage to calm the controversy. Hermoso stated that she did not write "a single word" of the statement that was sent about the kiss shortly after it happened.

"It was time to greet the authorities on the platform [for the trophy presentation]," Hermoso testified. "I greeted the queen, her daughter, and then I met Rubiales. We hugged and I told him 'we've done well', we jumped, and when we got down he told me 'we won the World Cup thanks to you'. Then it was his hands on my ears, and the subsequent kiss," she explained, insisting that for her, a kiss on the lips goes beyond a friendly or polite greeting.

During the testimony, the prosecutor asked the footballer if Rubiales asked her if she could kiss him, and Hermoso replied that at that moment she "neither heard nor understood anything." "Immediately, when he put his hands on my ears, it was the act of kissing on the mouth", she remarked. She added that if he had asked her, she would have refused.

Hermoso said the Rubiales kiss made her feel "disrespected" and tarnished one of the "happiest" moments of her life.

Forced kiss 

After the World Cup final on August 20, 2023, which Spain won 1-0 against England to become world champions for the first time, Luis Rubiales grabbed Hermoso's head and kissed her on the lips during the medal ceremony.

The federation chief posted an apology video from the Doha airport, which drew criticism for its apparent lack of sincerity or confession of wrongdoing. It later emerged that Rubiales pressured Hermoso to appear alongside him in the video, which she did not do, while Spanish team manager Jorge Vilda also pressured the player's family up to three times for the same motive.

Rubiales then refused to resign during an explosive speech given at an RFEF extraordinary general meeting, contrary to all expectations, while railing against the "false feminism" which he said was trying to "socially assassinate" him.

Following his refusal to step down, 81 Spanish players announced they would not be returning to the national team fold until there were significant changes in the directorship of the organization. The federation then threatened legal action against the players. 

The Spanish Football Federation released various statements brandishing Hermoso a liar.

In a personal statement, unlike most that were sent through her union, Hermoso denied that the kiss was consensual and explained that she felt the victim of an assault.