José María Timón, former cabinet director of Luis Rubiales, former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), stated this Tuesday that he did not witness at any time the alleged pressure deployed against the player Jennifer Hermoso and her entourage after the head of the organization gave him a kiss after the World Cup final. Timón has declared as a witness before Judge Francisco de Jorge, instructor of the National Court, that he is investigating possible crimes of sexual assault and coercion.
Sources from the public ministry point out that, in their opinion, Timón has “deliberately failed to tell the truth” and contradicts the versions of other witnesses who have testified in the case.
In addition to the former chief of staff, two other RFEF employees appeared as witnesses this Tuesday: the head of compliance [buenas prácticas] from the federation, Javier Puyol; and the psychologist of the women’s team, Javier López Vallejo. According to legal sources, like Timón, both have denied knowing anything about the alleged pressures. On November 2, the current coach of the Spanish men’s soccer team, Luis de la Fuente, already spoke along the same lines.
The National Court opened investigations into the Rubiales case at the beginning of September, after receiving a complaint from the Prosecutor’s Office. The public ministry, after taking a statement from Hermoso at the headquarters of the State Attorney General’s Office, put two crimes on the table: one of sexual assault, for the “non-consensual” kiss of the player during the celebration of the World Cup victory. female; and another of coercion, due to the alleged pressure deployed in the hours and days that followed against the athlete and her entourage to publicly support the version of the then president of the RFEF, cornered by the scandal.
As stated by the Prosecutor’s Office in its complaint, the soccer player described how she suffered “constant and repeated pressure from Luis Rubiales and his professional environment, to justify and approve the facts.” “Hermoso suffered a situation of harassment, against the development of his life in peace, tranquility and freely,” the complaint stressed. For these alleged maneuvers, Judge De Jorge has charged, in addition to Rubiales, Albert Luque, director of the men’s soccer team; Jorge Vilda, former coach of the women’s team; and Rubén Rivera, marketing manager of the federation. The three have rejected the accusations during their successive statements at the National Court.
Albert Luque and Rubén Rivera are placed on a trip to Ibiza, where the soccer players celebrated the title after winning in Sydney, with the supposed objective of putting pressure on the athlete. For her part, Vilda was summoned to ask about the contacts she had with Hermoso’s brother during the plane ride back from Australia, to which the player referred as follows: “He started talking to me brother […] They let my brother know that if I helped him, I would do well.”
The round of interrogations of witnesses will continue next Thursday, when statements by soccer player Laia Codina, Hermoso’s teammate, are scheduled; and the president of the National Women’s Soccer Committee, Rafael del Amo.
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