The accusing body requests that sentence, in addition to compensation of 100,000 euros, considering the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, responsible for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion. The case dates back to the non-consensual kiss that Rubiales gave to soccer player Jennifer Hermoso, on August 20, during the Women's World Cup final ceremony. Likewise, the Prosecutor's Office accuses the former women's coach, Jorge Vilda, the current sports director of the team, Albert Luque, and the Marketing Director of the RFEF, Rubén Rivera, as perpetrators of the alleged pressure.
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The non-consensual kiss of Luis Rubiales to the Spanish soccer player Jennifer Hermoso may have greater consequences for the former sports leader, who last September was forced to leave his position.
The document presented in court by the lieutenant prosecutor of the National Court, Marta Durántez, released this March 27, explains that it requests one year in prison against Rubiales for the crime of sexual assault. And another year and a half in prison for coercion against the athletefollowing the controversial action.
In addition, The accusing body requests compensation for Hermoso of 100,000 euros. 50,000 of them must be delivered by Rubiales for the charge of sexual assault. The other half of the amount was ordered to be paid among the four accused of coercion.
And, in addition to Rubiales, The Prosecutor's Office points to the former women's coach, Jorge Vildato the current sports director of the national team, Albert Luque, and the Marketing Director of the RFEF, Ruben Rivera, as co-authors of pressure against the soccer player to support the allegations that Rubiales issued to justify his action.
A “surprise action, without consent or acceptance”
The prosecutor's accusation recalled that Rubiales, 46, grabbed Hermoso and kissed her on the lips on August 20, after 'La Roja' won the Women's World Cup in Sydney, an event that sparked a heated debate in Spain and the rest of the world.
Durántez describes that Rubiales' kiss to Hermoso was a “surprising and without consent or acceptance” action, at the moment when she, along with her teammates, were receiving the medals after being crowned winners of the Women's World Cup, he “held her head” with both hands and “kissed him on the lips,” he points out.
However, the lieutenant prosecutor asks for a minimum of one year in prison for that crime.
If found guilty and sentenced, as requested by the prosecuting body, Rubiales would not necessarily have to go to prison. The Spanish Penal Code allows judges to “exceptionally” suspend prison sentences if, as in this case, none of the sentences imposed individually exceed two years.
Why does the Prosecutor's Office accuse Rubiales and three senior officials of the RFEF to coerce Hermoso?
The prosecutor maintains that “given the personal and professional consequences” that the accused could have, they began “to exert constant and repeated acts of pressure directly on the player.” Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes and through her family and friends” so that the woman “justified and approved the kiss that Luis Rubiales gave her against her will,” the prosecutor's six-page letter highlights.
The document signed by Durántez indicates that the pressure began shortly afterwards, in full celebration of the team's victory, at the exit of the locker room, where he “urged” the athlete to publicly declare that the kiss had been consensual.
These events, which the accusing party described as “harassment,” also took place on the bus, on the way to the airport, on the return flight from Australia to Spain – when Hermoso's relatives were also pressured – and on the subsequent vacation that the player had with her teammates in Ibiza.
In a previous statement before the Prosecutor's Office, which was reported by the Spanish press, Jennifer Hermoso pointed out the difficult situation she went through after the kiss that she did not authorize.
“We went to Ibiza. As I arrive, with Rubén, Marketing Director of the Federation, he hands me his phone number and Miguel García, who was the Integrity Manager of the Federation, tells me that I have to do a Zoom immediately to tell the truth, what has happened, that The kiss was stupid and that's it. I ask him if I am obliged, and he tells me 'yes, we have done it and we will do it with other people. This is in the Federation's protocol,'” said the professional soccer player.
The surprising and non-consensual kiss of the woman triggered a wave of protests and ended with Rubiales' resignation, after weeks in which he refused to resign, while affirming that he did not act incorrectly.
With local media
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