MADRID: Former Spanish soccer federation boss Luis Rubiales informed a court docket on Tuesday (Feb 11) that participant Jenni Hermoso had given her consent for him to kiss her within the aftermath of the Spain girls’s World Cup victory in 2023.
“I’m completely positive that she gave me her permission,” Rubiales informed the court docket in Madrid the place he’s standing trial. “In that second it was one thing fully spontaneous.”
Rubiales, 47, is accused of sexual assault for kissing Hermoso on the mouth after which making an attempt to coerce her – with the assistance of three different former soccer federation officers – into publicly saying the kiss on the 2023 World Cup awards ceremony in Australia had been consensual.
He has denied the costs, insisting the kiss was consensual, whereas Hermoso has stated it was not.
Requested whether or not he usually kissed individuals on the lips, Rubiales stated the event and the very fact he had identified Hermoso for a very long time warranted it. He stated he would do one thing comparable with a male participant or one in every of his daughters.
“You do not win a World Cup on daily basis,” he stated. “Once I see my daughters I do not give them a peck however on New 12 months’s Eve I give them a peck.”
Witnessed by hundreds of thousands of tv viewers and a whole stadium in Sydney in the course of the awards ceremony following the Spanish girls’s crew’s victory within the 2023 World Cup, the following uproar gave momentum to a “Me Too” motion wherein feminine gamers have been combating sexism and striving for parity with their male friends.
The prosecution is looking for 2-1/2 years’ jail for Rubiales, though in Spain these handed sentences below two years can often escape incarceration by paying damages as an alternative if they don’t have prior convictions.
Alongside Rubiales, former girls’s nationwide crew coach Jorge Vilda, former Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) sporting director Albert Luque and the RFEF’s former head of selling Ruben Rivera are additionally on trial for his or her suspected roles in pressuring Hermoso. They’ve denied the costs.
After Spain beat England in Sydney on Aug 20, 2023, Rubiales clutched his crotch in celebration on the ultimate whistle whereas standing close to Spain’s Queen Letizia and her daughter Princess Sofia.
Later, in the course of the medal presentation, he appeared to raise Hermoso off her toes then grabbed her by the top and pulled her towards him to kiss her on the lips.
Testifying final week, Hermoso stated she didn’t comply with the kiss and that the furore had tainted what ought to have been one of many happiest days of her life.
A verdict within the case is predicted in March, a couple of month after witness testimony ends.
