MADRID – The previous president of the Spanish soccer federation goes on trial Monday accused of sexual assault for kissing ahead Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s victory on the Girls’s World Cup ultimate in 2023.
The kiss, which Hermoso stated was with out her consent, marred the celebrations of the ladies’s crew’s achievement. It sparked widespread outrage in society past soccer, and ignited one of the crucial embarrassing scandals within the historical past of Spanish soccer.
Rubiales additionally grabbed his crotch in a lewd victory gesture whereas standing close to Spain’s Queen Letizia and Princess Sofia amid celebrations of Spain’s victory over England in Australia. He has denied any wrongdoing, however was pressured to resign and was banned by FIFA. Rubiales had stated he was the sufferer of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.” He stated the kiss was consensual.
What Rubiales faces
The 47-year-old Rubiales is accused of sexual assault and of attempting to coerce Hermoso to publicly assist him. A decide dominated that Rubiales’ kiss was “unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a shocking style.” Rubiales might face a wonderful or a jail sentence of 1 to 4 years if discovered responsible, in accordance with court docket officers. A new legislation eradicated the distinction between “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault,” sanctioning any unconsented sexual act. Prosecutors, Hermoso and Spain’s gamers’ affiliation need a jail sentence of two and a half years for Rubiales, plus a fee of fifty,000 euros ($51,800) for damages, and for him to be banned from working as a sports activities official. Hermoso can be asking for a court docket order banning Rubiales from being close to her.
Others on trial
The decide additionally dominated that together with Rubiales, former Spain ladies’s nationwide crew coach Jorge Vilda, former sports activities director of Spain’s males’s crew Albert Luque, and the federation’s former head of selling, Rubén Rivera, needs to be tried for allegedly pressuring Hermoso to defend Rubiales, one thing she refused to do. All of them additionally deny wrongdoing. In line with the decide, there was enough proof that Rubiales unsuccessfully pressured Hermoso to seem in a video he produced and printed whereas public outrage over his actions mounted. The decide stated there was additionally motive to consider Vilda likewise pressured Hermoso’s brother. Luque and advertising and marketing head Rivera had been additionally concerned within the alleged try and coerce her to assist her disgraced boss, in accordance with the decide. Prosecutors, Hermoso and Spain’s gamers’ affiliation need a jail sentence of 1 and a half years for the three defendants.
Timetable and witnesses
The trial begins on Monday and is anticipated to final at the very least 10 days. Hermoso is ready to testify on the primary day. Among the many almost 20 witnesses who’re additionally anticipated to testify are Spain’s males’s nationwide crew coach Luis de la Fuente and a few of Hermoso’s teammates within the ladies’s nationwide crew, together with former world participant of the 12 months Alexia Putellas. Rubiales is obligated to attend solely the primary and the final day, in accordance with the court docket. The 4 defendants are anticipated to talk towards the top of the trial subsequent week. Rubiales’ daughters are additionally set to testify sooner or later.
Scandal aftermath
Hermoso and her teammates refused to play so long as Rubiales was in cost and returned to the crew solely weeks later when the federal government mediated an settlement with the federation interim president to overtake its protocols and provides extra assist to its ladies’s facet. That included the elimination of the time period “ladies’s” from the official crew title. FIFA banned Rubiales for three years till after the boys’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire earlier than the subsequent ladies’s match in 2027. Spain’s sports activities authority additionally dominated him unfit to carry a submit in sports activities administration for 3 years.
Rubiales’ different hassle
Throughout his time as president of Spanish soccer’s governing physique, Rubiales overhauled the format of the Spanish Tremendous Cup in 2020, making a four-team mini match and moved the competitors to Saudi Arabia as a part of a deal that was reportedly price 40 million euros (then $42 million) per match to the federation. Prosecutors opened a probe of that deal in 2022 following leaked audio between Rubiales and then-Barcelona participant Gerard Piqué concerning hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in commissions. Piqué’s sports activities leisure firm Kosmos was concerned within the take care of the federation and Saudi Arabia. They denied wrongdoing.
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