The former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, is facing trial for kissing national soccer player Jennifer Hermoso without her consent after Spain’s World Cup victory last year. Rubiales is accused of one count of sexual assault and one of coercion, with Spanish prosecutors seeking a total of two years and six months in prison for the offenses.
Rubiales has previously apologized for the kiss and has stated that he did ask Hermoso for consent, to which she allegedly replied “vale.” However, Hermoso has said that she did not consent to the kiss and felt disrespected by Rubiales. She has also spoken about receiving threats as a consequence of the incident.
The High Court in Madrid has accepted the case for trial, which will also involve the former coach of the women’s national team, Jorge Vilda, the team’s current sporting director, Albert Luque, and the federation’s head of marketing, Ruben Rivera. They are accused of coercing Hermoso into saying that the kiss was consensual.
The court has set a bail of 65,000 euros for Rubiales’ sexual assault charge and a separate joint bail of 65,000 euros for Rubiales, Vilda, Luque
