LUIS Rubiales, the disgraced former chief of the Spanish football federation (RFEF), will be forced to stand trial over the alleged ‘non-consensual’ kiss he planted on footballer Jenni Hermoso, Spain’s High Court has ruled.
Rubiales, 46, made headlines across the world last year after he grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on the lips during the post-match ceremony of Spain’s Women’s World Cup final triumph over England.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a prison term of two-and-a-half years for sexual assault after Hermoso and her teammates claimed that the kiss was unconsensual and not, as Rubiales claimed, a ‘consensual peck’.
Rubiales was banned from all football related activity for three years and forced to resign from his lucrative role as head of the RFEF in the aftermath of the incident, which overshadowed Spain’s trailblazing success.
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In January, a judge concluded that there was enough evidence to warrant a trial, with the preliminary investigation deciding the gesture was ‘not consensual and was a unilateral and unexpected move’.
The judge added that it would be up to the court to decide if the kiss was ‘erotic or not’ and to examine the impact of the ‘state of euphoria and excitement due to the extraordinary sporting triumph’.
Rubiales, alongside the former coach of the women’s national team, Jorge Vilda, the team’s current sporting director, Albert Luque, and the federation’s chief of marketing, Ruben Rivera, also faces one count of coercion.
All four men, who deny any wrongdoing, are alleged to have pressured Hermoso into saying that the kiss was consensual – if found guilty, they could each face up to 18 months in jail.
The trial comes just a month after Rubiales was arrested on his return from the Dominican Republic over investigations into alleged corruption linked to his decision to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia in a multi-million euro deal.
Rubiales, whose mother made headlines last year after undergoing a hunger strike in support of her son, denies all allegations and claims he is the victim of a ‘social assasination’.
According to the AFP news agency, the court presiding Rubiales’ case has set a bail of €65,000 for the charge of sexual assault, to be paid within 24 hours to cover ‘any civil liabilities he may be ordered to pay’.
