Former Spanish soccer coach Luis Rubiales disagreed with star players at last summer’s Women’s World Cup medal ceremony after a judge recommended on Thursday that he receive a court ruling in a high-profile case. He is scheduled to go on trial for kissing her. She transformed the Spanish sporting world.
The judge also recommended that Rubiales and three other officials from the Spanish Football Federation, including Jorge Vilda, who was sacked as the women’s team coach following the incident, be tried on charges of extortion. Immediately after the kiss, he pressured player Jennifer Hermoso to show support for Rubiales.
The judge concluded that Rubiales’ kiss after the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney, Australia, was “nonconsensual, unilateral and surprising.”judge Furthermore, even if the kiss was more celebratory than sexual in nature, Mr. Rubiales’s actions fell within the scope of “the intimacy of a sexual relationship” and he should be held accountable. was also shown.
Prosecutors and Mr. Hermoso now have 10 days to formalize their charges, after which a trial will be held. If convicted of sexual assault, Rubiales faces one to four years in prison.
Mr Wilda filed an appeal on Thursday regarding the judge’s findings. As a result, the judge will need to gather more testimony on this issue. All defendants can appeal the judge’s recommendation within three days.
The verdict was the culmination of a pre-trial investigation presided over by Judge Francisco de Jorge, in which witnesses including Hermoso, officials and other players gave evidence regarding the sexual assault allegations against Rubiales in a closed hearing. The court was closed. The judge also considered videos of the kiss from different angles, as well as a video recorded on the bus after the medal ceremony, where Hermoso appeared to initially downplay the incident.
Hermoso, who is expected to represent Spain at this summer’s Paris Olympics if he qualifies, could not be reached for comment.
The player filed a criminal complaint against Rubiales in September, two and a half weeks after Rubiales forcibly kissed him on the lips on live television while on the podium celebrating a victory over England in the World Cup final. The charges paved the way for prosecutors to file a case against Mr. Rubiales.
The public reaction surrounding the kiss overshadowed one of the best moments in Spanish football and sparked a wider debate about sexism and power imbalances in the sport. The episode also led to the resurfacing of decades-old accusations of disrespect and controlling behavior towards female players by Spain’s male coaches and managers.
Players have vowed not to play for the national team in protest, with Alexia Putelas, one of the team’s stars, chanting the phrase “se acabo” or “it’s over” in support of Hermoso. When it was created, the comparison was made. #MeToo movement.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also weighed in on the post-match scuffle, calling the kiss “unacceptable.”
Rubiales initially issued a half-hearted apology for his actions. But then he tried to shift the blame for her to Ms. Hermoso, saying that while he was hugging her, she “pushed me close to her body.” He received a standing ovation from his football federation colleagues after a defiant speech in which he refused to resign and slammed what he called “fake feminism”.
In response, members of the Spanish women’s national soccer team and dozens of other players signed an ultimatum, saying they would not play for their country “if the current coach remains in charge,” meaning Spain could earn an Olympic ticket. He claimed that there was a possibility of blowing away his sexuality.
Players at professional clubs in Spain disrupted the league’s opening weekend in September by going on strike over low pay, maternity leave and harassment policies, amid growing public scrutiny of working conditions in Spanish women’s soccer.
Rubiales initially resisted calls to resign. However, less than a month after the World Cup final, a court issued a restraining order against him, and he resigned as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and vice president of European football governing body UEFA.
By October, FIFA, soccer’s governing body, had initially suspended the player for 90 days for the incident, but banned him from competitive action for three years.
Rubiales is also the subject of an investigation by anti-corruption prosecutors over the misuse of federation funds.
Other heads are rolling too. Wilda, an ally of Rubiales, has faced accusations of controlling behavior towards international players in 2022 and was replaced as the team’s coach in September despite leading the team to victory at the World Cup a month earlier. He was dismissed. He was replaced by Monse Tomé, Spain’s first female national team coach.
Mark A. Walsh I contributed a report from London.