Rubiales tells court docket that Hermoso kiss was consensual

February 12 – Disgraced former Spanish FA boss Luis Rubiales got here out preventing at his trial on Tuesday, telling the court docket he was “completely certain” Jenni Hermoso gave her consent to his kiss on her lips that sparked international outrage.

Rubiales was compelled to resign in 2023 after kissing Hermoso following Spain’s triumph on the Girls’s World Cup in Australia.

Rubiales, at present banned by FIFA, informed the court docket: “She squeezed me very tightly underneath my armpits, she lifted me, and once I got here down I requested her if I may give you a kiss, and she or he mentioned ‘OK’. That’s what occurred.

“What occurred had no significance neither for me nor for her,” Rubiales added throughout his extremely anticipated testimony, describing the kiss as “an act of affection”.

“I’m completely certain that she gave me her permission. In that second it was one thing fully spontaneous.”

Prosecutors are looking for two and a half years in jail for Rubiales, one 12 months for sexual assault for the compelled kiss and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso, 34, to downplay the incident.

Rubiales conceded he “made a mistake” on the rostrum and that his behaviour “was not acceptable”, saying he ought to have “been in a extra institutional function”, however denied any offence had been dedicated.

Hermoso informed the opening day of the trial she felt “disrespected” and her teammates have described how she was “overwhelmed” following the incident.

However Rubiales denied the cost of coercion, saying he didn’t take part within the drafting of an announcement in Hermoso’s title that sought to calm the rising furore.

He mentioned Hermoso rejected a suggestion to seem in a video alongside him and as an alternative “wished to have a good time the World Cup”.

Rubiales responded with a blunt “no” when the prosecutor requested him if he had manipulated individuals near Hermoso to place stress on her.

Requested whether or not he usually kissed individuals on the lips, he responded that the event and the very fact he had identified Hermoso for a very long time warranted it and that he mentioned he would do one thing related with a male participant or one in every of his daughters.

“You don’t win a World Cup every single day,” he mentioned.

The trial continues.

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