Alex Trelinski
THE trial ended on Friday of former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales over the infamous kiss planted on Jenni Hermoso.
A verdict and possible sentencing from Judge Jose Manuel Clemente Fernandez-Prieto is expected within several weeks following 10 days of testimony at the Madrid area courthouse.
“With this, believe it or not, we are done,” the judge joked after Rubiales plus three others accused of trying to pressurise Hermoso passed on their right to make final statements.
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Luis Rubiales is accused of sexual assault for kissing Hermoso in 2023 following Spain’s triumph at the women’s World Cup in Australia, as well as coercion for allegedly trying to convince the player to downplay the incident afterwards.
Hermoso, 34, says she did not consent to the kiss while Rubiales, 47, denies wrongdoing and argues it was consensual.
Prosecutors want two-and-a-half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault and 18 months for the coercion of Hermoso.
Among the accused alongside Rubiales are ex-women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda and two former Spanish football federation officials.
They have been accused of trying to coerce Hermoso with prosecutors seeking 18 months’ jail for them.
Video footage showed Rubiales clasping Hermoso’s head at the World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney and kissing her on the lips before letting her go with two slaps on the back.
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 resigned the next month after FIFA suspended him and prosecutors opened an investigation into an alleged sexual assault.
