Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S World Cup soccer star Jenni Hermoso has filed an official complaint accusing suspended RFEF president Luis Rubiales of sexual assault.
The complaint was lodged with the State Attorney’s Office on Tuesday following the controversial kiss by Rubiales on Hermoso’s lips during the World Cup awards ceremony after Spain’s victory over England in Sydney on August 20.
Hermoso was invited by prosecutors to take the legal step last month and said they planned to meet her.
The National Court’s prosecutor’s office says they intend to proceed ‘as soon as possible’.
Luis Rubiales has insisted the kiss was consensual.
He was suspended from the RFEF presidency on August 27, a day after he refused to step down when he delivered a defiant speech to the RFEF general assembly where he claimed he was victim of a ‘witch hunt’ by ‘false feminists’.
All of Spain’s top women footballers said they would refuse to play if Rubiales remained in post and all of the team’s coaches resigned- barring head coach Jorge Vilda who was sacked by the RFEF on Tuesday.
Vilda applauded Rubiales’ defiant August 26 speech saying he would not resign but it took him until the next day to say that he was wrong to show his support for the embattled leader.
Acting RFEF president Pedro Rocha told Vilda of his dismissal yesterday and he has been replaced by his former deputy, Montse Tome- the first woman to take charge of the national side.
Her first match will come on September 22, where she hopes she will have a full pool of players to pick from.
The RFEF also apologised for the ‘enormous damage done’ in the wake of the kiss, saying Rubiales’ actions do not reflect the federation and that they are ’embarrassed by his actions.
They added that changes would be made at the top of the organisation.
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READ MORE:
- Head coach of Spain’s women’s football team Jorge Vilda is sacked after supporting Luis Rubiales
- Two weeks later, Spain’s men’s football team finally condemns Federation chief Luis Rubiales
- Jenni Hermoso enjoys holiday in Marbella as fall out over ‘non-consensual’ Luis Rubiales kiss continues
