Rubialies found guilty of sexually assaulting footballer Jenni Hermoso by forcibly kissing her and ordered to pay fine.A Spanish court has found former football chief Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for kissing football player Jenni Hermoso without her consent after the 2023 Women’s World Cup Final.
Rubiales, who was acquitted of coercion, was given a fine of 10,000 euros ($10,455) on Thursday by the Audiencia Nacional court. He was ordered not to go within a 200-metre (660-foot) radius of Hermoso and banned from communicating with her for one year.
The incident cast a pall over Spain’s victory in the 2023 Women’s World Cup and set off a debate about sexism faced by female athletes. The 47-year-old Rubiales resigned in September 2023 amid widespread outrage.
While Hermoso has stated that the kiss was not consensual and told the court that she felt “disrespected” by the act, Rubiales has maintained that it was. He told the court on Tuesday that he remained “absolutely sure” that the kiss was consensual.
Prosecutors had sought jail time for Rubiales, composed of one year for assault and 18 months for coercion, alleging that Rubiales and several prominent Spanish football officials had attempted to coerce Hermoso into saying that the kiss was consensual and downplay the incident. Advertisement
The court declined to sentence Rubiales to prison time and acquitted him and the three co-defendants of coercion.
Spain footballer Jennifer Hermoso arrives at the court of San Fernando de Henares, east of Madrid, on February 3, 2025 [File: Thomas Coex/AFP]
Judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto said that he believed Hermono’s testimony that she had not consented to the kiss. He ruled that the sexual assault, “while always reproachable” was of minor intensity as there was no violence or intimidation.
“The Judge understands that, in view of the magnitude of the assault, a kiss, that it is a sporadic act of the accused, and that he does not …
