Hermoso testifies in sexual assault case against Rubiales

Jenni Hermoso, the Spain participant kissed on the lips by her nation’s soccer affiliation’s president on the Women’s World Cup closing in August, appeared in court docket on Tuesday to testify in the sexual assault case against the previous official.

Hermoso was on the Madrid court docket to offer her model of the kiss by Luis Rubiales following Spain’s victory over England in the ultimate in Sydney.

“Everything went well,” Hermoso informed reporters afterwards. “The judicial process will continue its course, and thanks for the support that many of you had given to me.”

The incident sparked outrage throughout the soccer world and ignited one of many worst crises in the historical past of the game in Spain. It additionally led to a boycott of the nationwide staff 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 workers tried to strain her and her household to downplay the incident that tarnished Spain’s first Women’s World Cup title.

The testimony was anticipated behind shut doorways, with Spanish media saying Hermoso requested the choose to maintain her court docket look as personal as doable. She arrived carrying a gray coat and waved to journalists earlier than coming into the court docket by way of certainly one of its most important entrances alongside along 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 choose can also be listening to testimony from different World Cup-winning gamers, coaches and federation officers, earlier than deciding whether or not to begin a trial.

Rubiales beforehand denied wrongdoing to the choose who imposed a restraining order on him to not contact Hermoso.

The 33-year-old Hermoso, the document scorer for Spain’s girls’s staff, mentioned final 12 months she obtained threats in 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 in the nation. She was one of many New Year’s Eve presenters on public tv on Saturday, calling for a 2024 with extra equality.

The boycott of the nationwide staff ended final 12 months after gamers got ensures of change throughout the federation following the intervention of presidency officers.

Based on a sexual consent regulation handed final 12 months, Rubiales might face a positive or a jail sentence of 1 to 4 years if discovered responsible, in line with the prosecutors’ 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 lads’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire earlier than the subsequent girls’s event in 2027.

He resigned because the federation president and as a UEFA vice chairman on Sept. 10 amid mounting strain in Spain from lawmakers and gamers. One day later, UEFA thanked Rubiales for his service.

Hermoso signed for Mexican champions Tigres Femenil on Monday after leaving rivals Pachuca.