Spanish MP files complaint against Rubiales – 09/08/2023 – Sport

The Public Ministry of Spain filed this Friday (8) a complaint against the suspended president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, for possible crimes of sexual assault and coercion for the forced kiss on athlete Jenni Hermoso during the World Cup awards ceremony. of the female world.

“The prosecutor requests the testimony of Luis Rubiales, as an investigator, and Jenni Hermoso, as a victim,” the MP said in a statement.

Now, a National Audience court, the body competent to judge acts that take place abroad, must decide whether to admit the complaint and open a case or close the complaint.

Since a recent reform of the Spanish Penal Code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a criminal category that brings together all types of sexual violence.

Rubiales provoked outrage in Spain and the international community for the kiss he gave the national team player on the mouth, without consent, during the women’s World Cup medal ceremony on August 20, shortly after Spain’s victory over England , in Sydney, Australia.

On Wednesday (6), Hermoso opened a case against Luis Rubiales. The complaint presented was essential for the judicial process to move forward. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of the National Audience (ANE) had already started a preliminary investigation against the director for an “alleged crime of sexual harassment”.

“Jenni Hermoso stated in her testimony that both she and those closest to her suffered constant and repeated pressure from Luis Rubiales and his professional environment to justify and approve the facts,” the statement said, adding that “this harassment could constitute a crime of coercion”.

The scandal triggered by Rubiales has been shaking Spanish football for weeks. The director, who refused to resign from the entity and attacked what he called “false feminism”, was suspended from his position for 90 days by FIFA.

The 33-year-old player later stated that she felt “vulnerable and victim of aggression” upon receiving the kiss, which in her opinion was “an impulsive, sexist act, out of place and without any type of consent”.

In Spain, the Administrative Sports Court (TAD) opened a case against him and the Spanish government asked it to go further and also suspend Rubiales, who, however, denounces having been the victim of an “unprecedented political and media lynching “.

Meanwhile, the Federation announced on Tuesday the dismissal of the women’s coach, Jorge Vilda, considered close to Rubiales and criticized by the players, as one of its first “renewal measures”, and appointed in his place Montse Tomé, the first woman to occupy the position.