Luis Rubiales, ex-Spanish football chief, is on trial over the World Cup kiss
A judge at the Spanish National Court recommended on Thursday that the country's former soccer boss, Luis Rubiales, will be tried on sexual assault charges over his non-consensual kiss of a star player during the Women's World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney, Australia, last summer.
If Rubiales is found guilty of sexual assault in the case, which rocked Spanish women's football and sparked a debate about the legacy of sexism in sport in Spain, he could face a prison sentence of one to four years.
The judge also recommended that Rubiales and three officials of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the country's football governing body – including Jorge Vilda, who was fired as coach of the women's team after the incident – be tried on charges of coercion. for pressuring the player, Jennifer Hermoso, to show support for Mr. Rubiales in the immediate aftermath of the kiss.
The judge concluded that the kiss by Mr Rubiales was “not consensual and a unilateral and surprising act”.
Prosecutors and Ms. Hermoso now have 10 days to formalize their charges, after which a trial will take place.
The ruling was the culmination of a preliminary investigation, presided over by Judge Francisco de Jorge, in which witnesses including Ms. Hermoso, officials and other players gave testimony regarding sexual abuse allegations against Mr. Rubiales in a closed-door hearing that ended on January 2nd. The judge also examined videos of the kiss from different angles and a video recorded on a bus after the medal ceremony, in which Ms Hermoso initially appeared to make light of the incident.
Ms Hermoso, who is expected to play for Spain at the Paris Olympics this summer if the country qualifies, was not immediately available for comment.
The player filed a criminal complaint against Mr Rubiales in September, two and a half weeks after he forcefully kissed her on the lips, on live television, on stage as the team celebrated its victory over England in the World Cup final. That complaint paved the way for prosecutors to open a case against Mr. Rubiales.
Even Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez waded into the fray after the match, calling the kiss “unacceptable.”
Mr. Rubiales initially offered a half-hearted apology for his behavior. But he later tried to shift the blame to Ms. Hermoso, saying she “moved me close to her body” during the embrace. After a defiant speech in which he refused to resign and railed against what he called “false feminism”, he received a standing ovation from his colleagues at the football federation.
In response, members of Spain's women's national football team and dozens of other players signed an ultimatum, pledging that they would not take the field for their country – potentially damaging Spain's chances of an Olympic ticket – “if the current managers continue.”
As public attention to working conditions in Spanish women's football grew, players from Spain's professional clubs disrupted the opening weekends of the competition in September by striking over low wages, maternity leave and harassment protocols.
Mr. Rubiales initially resisted calls for his resignation. But when a court issued a restraining order against him less than a month after the World Cup final, he resigned as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and as vice-president of UEFA, European football's governing body.
In October, FIFA – football's governing body, which initially suspended him for 90 days over the incident – had banned him from the sport for three years.
Mr Rubiales is also the subject of an investigation by anti-corruption prosecutors into irregularities in the use of federation funds.
Other heads have also rolled. Mr Vilda, a close ally of Rubiales who has been dogged by accusations of controlling behavior towards national team players in 2022, was dismissed as the team's coach in September despite taking the team to the victory at the World Cup. He was replaced by Spain's first female national coach, Montse Tomé.
Mark A. Walsh contributed reporting from London.