By Joseph De Avila
ET
Luis Rubiales in Spanish court earlier this month. Photo: thomas coex/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Former Spanish soccer federation chief Luis Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault after he forcibly kissed a player during a victory celebration at the final of the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Rubiales was acquitted of a separate charge of coercion, Spain’s High Court said in a statement Thursday.
After the Spanish women’s team defeated England in the 2023 World Cup tournament, Rubiales forcibly kissed Spain star Jenni Hermoso on the mouth as she collected her medal.
Rubiales had said the kiss was consensual, but Judge José Manuel Clemente Fernández-Prieto said in his ruling that he believed Hermoso, who testified in court that she was kissed against her will.
Lawyers for Rubiales and Hermoso didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Spain’s high court fined Rubiales €10,800, or about $11,300. Rubiales won’t serve a prison sentence, but is barred from communicating with Hermoso for one year and must stay more than 200 meters away from her.
The court also acquitted three co-defendants who were accused of coercing Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual.
Rubiales’s kiss overshadowed the Spanish women’s team’s first World Cup title. It also propelled Spain’s “Me Too” movement.
Rubiales was defiant in the face of the scandal, and initially refused to resign as head of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation. He said the allegations against him were “social assassination” based on “false feminism.” His mother also went on a hunger strike to protest the treatment of her son.
Rubiales later stepped down as head of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation after losing support from Spanish soccer officials. FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, also suspended Rubiales from all soccer-related activities for three years.
The Royal Spanish Soccer Federation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
