The siege of Luis Rubiales, the suspended president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, continues to close, after the Prosecutor’s Office of that country will present a complaint against the leader this Friday.
Rubiales would face charges of “sexual assault” and “coercion” for the non-consensual kiss of Jenni Hermoso after La Roja’s victory in the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“The prosecutor requests that a statement be taken from Luis Rubiales, as an investigated, and Jenni Hermoso as a victim,” the Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Rubiales sparked outrage in Spain and internationally for the kiss he gave the women’s team player on the mouth without consent on August 20, during the World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney, won by Spain.
Luis Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso
“Jenni Hermoso also referred in her statement that both she and her immediate environment suffered constant and repeated pressure from Luis Rubiales and his professional environment, to justify and approve the facts,” added the Prosecutor’s Office.
How did the team realize the seriousness of what Rubiales did?
At first, many people did not realize the seriousness of the events, including the Spanish National Team players themselves. One of them, Laia Codina, spoke about the issue in an interview on the Tot Costa program, on Catalunya Radio.
The Arsenal player gave details of how they had found out about the matter and how they realized that a sensitive issue was coming.
“In the end, really, we found out a little about everything inside the locker room,” said Codina. “You know people are talking about something, but you don’t know what. We got to the locker room, we started watching the news,” she added.
The euphoria of the title, initially, made the players not react to what happened. “When we are really aware of the events that have happened, and I am not only talking about the kiss, but also the gesture that Rubiales has next to the queen, when we are truly aware it is on the bus,” Codina indicated.
The former Barcelona player revealed that she was one of the leaders of the squad, after reviewing everything that was being said, she was the one who stressed that Rubiales was not only serious, but that they had to react immediately.
“One of the veterans tells us: ‘Be careful, girls, because what has happened is very serious, it is unacceptable and we have to condemn it because the final is still an abuse of power by the boss with a player, who could have been any of us‘” he counted.
The leader – who days later refused to resign in a controversial speech in which he stated that the kiss was “consensual” and where he charged against “false feminism” – was suspended from office for 90 days by Fifa.
Hermoso, 33, later stated that she felt “vulnerable and victim of aggression” when she received the kiss, which in her opinion was “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and without any kind of consent.”
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with AFP
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