The previous president of Spain’s soccer federation Luis Rubiales arrives on the Nationwide Courtroom in Madrid, Spain on April. 29, 2024. Rubiales will testify on Monday as a defendant for alleged corruption throughout his time on the head of the group.
Bernat Armangue/AP
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Bernat Armangue/AP
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 closing in 2023.
The kiss, which Hermoso mentioned was with out her consent, marred the celebrations of the ladies’s workforce’s achievement. It sparked widespread outrage in society past soccer, and ignited one of the vital 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 mentioned he was the sufferer of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.” He mentioned 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 help him. A choose dominated that Rubiales’ kiss was “unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion.” Rubiales might face a effective or a jail sentence of 1 to 4 years if discovered responsible, in keeping with court docket officers. A brand 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 choose additionally dominated that together with Rubiales, former Spain girls’s nationwide workforce coach Jorge Vilda, former sports activities director of Spain’s males’s workforce Albert Luque, and the federation’s former head of promoting, 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 keeping with the choose, there was adequate proof that Rubiales unsuccessfully pressured Hermoso to look in a video he produced and revealed whereas public outrage over his actions mounted. The choose mentioned there was additionally cause to imagine Vilda likewise pressured Hermoso’s brother. Luque and advertising head Rivera had been additionally concerned within the alleged try and coerce her to help her disgraced boss, in keeping with the choose. 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 predicted to final at the 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 workforce coach Luis de la Fuente and a few of Hermoso’s teammates within the girls’s nationwide workforce, together with former world participant of the yr Alexia Putellas. Rubiales is obligated to attend solely the primary and the final day, in keeping with the court docket. The 4 defendants are anticipated to talk towards the tip of the trial subsequent week. Rubiales’ daughters are additionally set to testify in some unspecified time in the future.
Scandal aftermath
Hermoso and her teammates refused to play so long as Rubiales was in cost and returned to the workforce solely weeks later when the federal government mediated an settlement with the federation interim president to overtake its protocols and provides extra help to its girls’s aspect. That included the elimination of the time period “women’s” from the official workforce identify. FIFA banned Rubiales for 3 years till after the boys’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire earlier than the following girls’s match in 2027. Spain’s sports activities authority additionally dominated him unfit to carry a put up in sports activities administration for 3 years.
Rubiales’ different bother
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 value 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 thousands and 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.
