The Spanish participant who was kissed on the lips by the soccer president on the Women’s World Cup ultimate appeared in court docket Tuesday to testify within the sexual assault case in opposition to the previous official.
Jenni Hermoso was on the Madrid court docket to present her model of the kiss by Luis Rubiales following Spain’s victory over England within the ultimate in Sydney in August.
“Everything went well,” Hermoso instructed reporters afterward. “The judicial course of will proceed its course, and thanks for the assist that lots of you had given to me.”
The incident sparked outrage throughout the soccer world and ignited one of many worst crises in Spain’s sports activities historical past.
It additionally led to a boycott of the nationwide crew by the World Cup-winning gamers and to the eventual resignation of Rubiales regardless of his denial of wrongdoing and his allegation that the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso was anticipated to reiterate in court docket her allegations that the kiss was undesirable and Rubiales and his employees tried to stress her and her household to downplay the incident that tarnished Spain’s first Women’s World Cup title.
The testimony was behind closed doorways, and the court docket didn’t launch any particulars about her statements. Spanish media stated Hermoso requested the decide to maintain her court docket look as non-public as doable. She arrived sporting a grey coat and waved to journalists earlier than getting into the court docket via one in every of its foremost entrances alongside together with her attorneys.
Spanish state prosecutors accused Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion, alleging he tried to persuade Hermoso and her family to publicly downplay the kiss.
The decide can be listening to testimony from different World Cup-winning gamers, coaches, and federation officers earlier than deciding whether or not to begin a trial.
Among these being investigated for allegedly attempting to stress Hermoso was former Spain ladies’s nationwide crew coach Jorge Vilda and different former federation officers.
Rubiales beforehand denied wrongdoing to the decide who imposed a restraining order on him to not contact Hermoso.
The 33-year-old Hermoso, the report scorer for Spain’s ladies’s crew, stated final yr she obtained threats within the fallout from the kiss, although she didn’t elaborate.
Hermoso turned considerably of a celeb in Spain after coming ahead to denounce the kiss and assist promote a “Me Too” motion within the nation. She was one of many New Year’s Eve presenters on public tv on Saturday, calling for 2024 with extra equality. Hermoso introduced this week that she’s going to play for Mexican membership Tigres after a stint with Pachuca.
The boycott of the nationwide crew ended a final yr after gamers got ensures of change throughout the federation following the intervention of presidency officers.
Based on a sexual consent regulation handed final yr, Rubiales may face a superb or a jail sentence of 1 to 4 years if discovered responsible, in response to the prosecutor’s workplace in Madrid. The new regulation eradicated the distinction between “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault,” sanctioning any unconsented sexual act.
FIFA banned Rubiales for 3 years till after the boys’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire earlier than the following ladies’s match in 2027.
He resigned because the federation president and as a UEFA vice chairman on Sept. 10 amid mounting stress in Spain from lawmakers and gamers. One day later, UEFA thanked Rubiales for his service.
Source: www.dailysabah.com