Former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales has been found guilty over kissing player Jenni Hermoso without consent after the Women’s World Cup final in 2023.
Spain’s High Court has also ordered Rubiales to pay a fine worth more than €10,000 (£8,274) but has acquitted Rubiales of coercion. Prosecutors had demanded a prison sentence for Rubiales.
World Cup winner Hermoso previously told Rubiales’s trial in Madrid she “never” agreed to the former Spanish football chief kissing her on the lips – and the moment “tainted one of the happiest days” of her life.
Rubiales, 47, stood accused of sexual assault and of then attempting to coerce Hermoso, who is Spain’s all-time top goalscorer, into declaring the kiss had been consensual.
He denied the charges, claiming the kiss on the lips was consensual and happened in a “moment of jubilation”.
Hermoso repeatedly claimed the kiss with Rubiales, a controversy which ended up overshadowing Spain’s 1-0 victory over England in August 2023, was not consensual.
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The ensuing scandal after the kiss eclipsed Spain’s first women’s World Cup victory and proved a tipping point for efforts by Spain’s female players to expose sexism and achieve parity with male counterparts.
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Hermoso told the High Court earlier this month she “felt disrespected” and had “never” agreed to the kiss.
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“I didn’t hear or understand anything,” she said. “The next thing he did was to grab me by the ears and kiss me on the mouth.
“I knew I was being kissed by my boss and that should not happen in any social or work environment,” she added.
“I think it was a moment that tainted one of the happiest days of my life.
“All this meant I couldn’t enjoy at all being a world champion after I landed back in Madrid.”
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Following the scandal, Rubiales eventually resigned and in October 2023 was banned from all football-related activities for three years by world governing body FIFA.
Rubiales claimed he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists”.
The fallout from the incident led to a boycott by Spanish players of both the women’s and men’s national teams, while the case sparked protests in Spain and beyond demanding “a sport free of sexist violence”.
