Ben Pawlowski
LUIS Rubiales, the disgraced former chief of the Spanish football federation (RFEF), will avoid jail over the ‘non-consensual kiss’ he planted on footballer Jenni Hermoso after Spain’s National Court upheld the original conviction and threw out an appeal launched by Hermoso’s legal team.
Rubiales, 47, overshadowed Spain’s Women’s World Cup final triumph over England in 2023 after he grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on the lips in front of millions of viewers.
Spanish prosecutors had been seeking a prison term of two-and-a-half years for sexual assault after Hermoso and her teammates claimed the kiss was unconsensual and not, as Rubiales claimed, a ‘consensual peck’.
But in February, Rubiales was only handed a paltry fine of €10,800 for the offence, small change in comparison to the annual salary of over €630,000 he enjoyed in his capacity as president of the RFEF, a role he held for five years until he resigned in disgrace in September 2023.
The former UEFA vice-president was also found not guilty of coercion over allegations he pressured Hermoso, 35, into publicly saying the kiss was consensual.
The Public Prosecutors’ Office demanded a retrial over the case, claiming that the judge, Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto, was ‘biased’ in favour of Rubiales and had ‘unfairly denied’ key evidence.
That verdict was supported by Hermoso’s legal team, who vowed to launch an appeal over the leniency of the sentence handed to Rubiales and the non-guilty ruling over alleged coercion.
However, the National Court’s appeals chamber today upheld the original conviction and dismissed all appeals filed by the public prosecutor, including against former coach Jorge Vila, former director of men’s football Albert Luque, and former RFEF marketing director Ruben Rivera, who were all also investigated over alleged coercion.
During her testimony, Hermoso insisted she had not given consent over the kiss, which she claimed ‘strained one of the happiest days of my life’.
“My boss was kissing me and this should not happen in any social or work setting,” she told court earlier this year.
Rubiales, in contrast, said he was ‘absolutely sure’ Hermoso had given her consent to what he described as a ‘spontaneous…act of affection’.
READ MORE: Luis Rubiales is arrested in Spain: Ex-football federation boss is cuffed after landing in Madrid
With the original conviction upheld, Rubiales will have to pay a fine of €10,800, equivalent to a daily fine of €20 for 18 months.
He is also banned from going within 200 metres of Hermoso, and must not communicate with her for a year.
Rubiales is currently serving a three-year-ban from all football-related activity.
In April 2024, Rubiales was arrested in Madrid amid a corruption investigation into the controversial relocation of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
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