Foot & Soccer Soccer Match Reports, Football News
Luis Rubiales says that Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso consented to the kiss he gave her after the Girls’s World Cup last in 2023.
The previous president of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation (RFEF) is presently dealing with trial on expenses of sexual assault and coercion, with accusations that he pressured Hermoso into declaring the kiss as consensual.
Showing earlier than Spain’s Nationwide Court docket in Madrid, Rubiales mentioned: “I used to be completely certain” that Hermoso had agreed to the kiss. He described the second as “utterly spontaneous.”
The controversial incident came about in the course of the medal ceremony following Spain’s triumph within the World Cup, sparking widespread protests and calls for for Rubiales’ resignation. He continues to disclaim any prison wrongdoing.
Throughout his testimony, Rubiales added: “This was an amazing second for her. We had been thanking one another, she pressed me very exhausting across the waist after which I requested her whether or not I may give her a kiss and he or she mentioned sure.
“I took maintain of her in order to not fall again.”
🚨🗣️ Rubiales narra lo sucedido en aquella entrega de medallas: “Me apretó muy fuerte, me levantó, le pregunté puedo darte un besito y me dijo vale” pic.twitter.com/fdzCoYnrHz
— MARCA (@marca) February 11, 2025
When questioned in court docket concerning the actual wording he used when asking for the kiss – whether or not he mentioned “a kiss” or “somewhat kiss” – Rubiales responded: “I can’t bear in mind precisely, however I feel it was somewhat kiss.”
He was additionally requested whether or not he was conscious of rules relating to sexual harassment and sexual violence, to which he affirmed that he was.
Hermoso in her earlier court docket statements, has firmly denied giving consent, saying the incident “stained one of many happiest days of my life.”
On Tuesday, a lip-reading skilled testified in court docket, analysing video footage the place Hermoso’s face was not seen. In response to their findings, Rubiales requested: “Can I provide you with a kiss?”
Though Rubiales acknowledged that his actions on the rostrum had been inappropriate, he insisted no crime was dedicated. “I made a mistake,” he admitted. “My behaviour was not acceptable, and I ought to have been in a extra institutional function.”
Prosecutors are looking for a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence for Rubiales.
