A Spanish court docket on Thursday discovered former soccer chief Luis Rubiales responsible of sexual assault over the compelled kiss he gave star ahead Jenni Hermoso and fined him, however acquitted him of the cost of coercion.
Prosecutors had sought a jail time period of two-and-a-half years for Rubiales — one yr for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion for having allegedly pressured the participant to downplay the incident afterwards.
Choose Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto at Spain’s Excessive Court docket discovered Rubiales responsible of sexual assault over the kiss and fined him 10,800 euros ($11,300), however spared him a jail sentence.
Rubiales was additionally banned from going inside a 200-metre radius of Hermoso and from speaking along with her for a interval of 1 yr.
READ ALSO: Rubiales Says He Is ‘Completely Positive’ Hermoso Consented To Kiss
Kissing a girl on the mouth “will not be the conventional means of greeting folks with whom one has no sentimental relationship,” the decide wrote in his ruling, saying Rubiales had violated Hermoso’s “sexual freedom” with out her consent.
Rubiales’ lawyer Olga Tubau Martinez advised AFP her consumer “has determined to attraction the ruling”.
Video footage of the scandal that rocked Spanish soccer exhibits then-Spanish federation chief Rubiales clasping Hermoso’s head on the 2023 Ladies’s World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney and kissing her on the lips earlier than letting her go together with two slaps on the again.
The worldwide outcry over the kiss compelled Rubiales to resign in shame and thrust the highlight on the prevalence of macho tradition and sexism in sport.
Hermoso, 34, mentioned on the opening day of the trial on February 3 she felt “disrespected” after a non-consensual kiss that “shouldn’t occur in any social or work setting”.
Her teammates described beneath oath how she cried and felt “overwhelmed” following the incident, whereas her brother Rafael Hermoso mentioned she got here beneath strain to downplay the affair to guard the federation chief.
However Rubiales, 47, advised the court docket he was “completely positive” Hermoso consented to the kiss as she went as much as obtain her winner’s medal, which was broadcast stay all over the world, and denied placing strain on her after the incident.
“She squeezed me very tightly beneath 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,” he mentioned, describing it as “an act of affection”.
Rubiales conceded he “made a mistake” within the incident on the rostrum, saying he ought to have “been in a extra institutional function”, however denied he had dedicated any offence.
‘Entitled to rejoice’
Rubiales’ defence crew had argued that video pictures of Hermoso celebrating and consuming champagne along with her teammates within the altering room shortly after the incident show the participant was not upset by the kiss, she added.
However prosecutor Marta Durantez Gil rejected this line of thought throughout her closing arguments through which she additionally mentioned there was “little doubt” the kiss was “non-consensual”.
“How lengthy are we going to maintain demanding heroic behaviour from the sufferer of a sexual assault? Wasn’t she entitled to rejoice such a sporting triumph?” she requested.
The court docket acquitted the three different accused within the case, ex-women’s nationwide crew coach Jorge Vilda and two former federation officers, of the cost of coercion.
‘Faux feminism’
Equality Minister Ana Redondo welcomed the decision, saying it demonstrated that “when there is no such thing as a consent, there’s aggression”.
Rubiales’ stance on the stand contrasted with the defiance he displayed when the scandal broke.
Throughout an emergency federation assembly in August 2023, he performed down the significance of the kiss and rebuffed requires his resignation, railing in opposition to “false feminism”.
Rubiales resigned in September that yr after soccer’s world governing physique FIFA suspended him and Spanish prosecutors opened an investigation into alleged sexual assault. He had been federation chief since 2018.
Hermoso, the all-time prime scorer for the Spain nationwide girls’s crew who now performs for Mexican membership Tigres, was not referred to as as much as the squad instantly after the World Cup.
New coach Montse Tome defined she needed to guard the participant and denied omitting her from the squad was a “punishment”.
AFP
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