Court decides to try Rubiales for non-consensual kiss

Former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales will be judged for the non-consensual kiss he gave to player Jenni Hermoso at the awards ceremony for the women’s football World Cup last year. The decision was announced this Thursday (25) by judge Francisco de Jorge, from the Spanish National Audience.

The magistrate made the decision to put Rubiales on trial after analyzing evidence and evidence in the case. And he decided that there is enough material against the former Spanish leader to take him to trial. Rubiales had been charged with two crimes: sexual assault and coercion. But, in his decision, Francisco de Jorge did not specify the alleged crimes that will be tried.

In his order, the judge wrote that Rubiales’ kiss with the player was “non-consensual and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising way.” The other complaint about the former manager refers to an alleged attempt to coerce the athlete not to start a public campaign against him. The trial date has not yet been set.

Despite initially claiming that he was the victim of a campaign led by “fake feminists”, Rubiales ended up resigning from his position at the RFEF and also at UEFA (he was one of the vice-presidents). He denies having committed any crime.

The judge also ruled that, along with Rubiales, former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, Spanish men’s national team sporting director Albert Luque and former federation head of marketing Rubén Rivera should stand trial for allegedly pressuring Hermoso to defend Rubiales, action she refused to take.

Hermoso testified before the investigating judge this month. The 33-year-old striker, Spain’s all-time top scorer and who plays in the Mexican league, has been widely supported in the country. The kissing scandal has many hoping it will spur a reckoning with sexism in Spanish sports.

Based on a law on sexual crimes, approved in 2022, Rubiales could receive a fine or even a prison sentence of one to four years if found guilty. The new law eliminated the difference between “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault”, applying punishments for any non-consensual sexual act.

Hermoso and her teammates refused to continue playing while he was in charge and returned to the team only weeks later, when the government brokered an agreement from the federation’s interim president to review its protocols and provide more support for the women’s team. This included dropping the term “female” from the team’s official name.

FIFA banned Rubiales for three years, until after the 2026 men’s World Cup. His suspension will expire before the next women’s tournament in 2027. The Spanish sports authority also deemed him unfit to hold a sports management position for three years.