Prosecutors had sought a prison term for ex-football chief Luis Rubiales for assault and coercion against Jenni Hermoso.Jenni Hermoso will appeal the verdict in the case of former Spain football chief Luis Rubiales, who was fined after being found guilty of a forced kiss on the Women’s World Cup-winning player, her lawyer said.
“It is her intention” to appeal, lawyer Angel Chavarria said on Friday.
In a case which rocked Spain, prosecutors had sought a prison term of two-and-a-half years for Rubiales – one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion for having allegedly put pressure on the player to downplay the incident afterwards.
A judge at Spain’s High Court on Thursday found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault over the kiss and fined him 10,800 euros ($11,300), but spared him a prison sentence.
The ruling also banned him from going within a radius of 200 metres (656 feet) of Hermoso and from communicating with her for a period of one year.
Rubiales was acquitted of coercion for allegedly trying to pressure Hermoso into making a public statement that the kiss was consensual.
Rubiales, 47, said after the verdict that he will appeal. Advertisement
The judge wrote in his ruling that kissing a woman on the mouth “is not the normal way of greeting people with whom one has no sentimental relationship,” saying Rubiales had violated Hermoso’s “sexual freedom” without her consent.
Video footage of the scandal that rocked Spanish football shows then-Spanish federation chief Rubiales clasping Hermoso’s head at the 2023 Women’s World …
