Ex-Spanish Soccer President Luis Rubiales Found Guilty of Sexual Assault for Forcibly Kissing Star Player at World Cup

Mar. 15, 2025

Luis Rubiales; Jenni Hermoso.Photo:Denis Doyle/Getty; Denis Doyle/Getty

Denis Doyle/Getty; Denis Doyle/Getty

Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, wasfound guilty of sexual assaultfor forcibly kissing star soccer playerJenni Hermosoat the 2023 World Cup Final.

On Thursday, Feb. 19, a Spanish court issued the ruling, fining Rubiales 10,800 euros (approximately $11,292 USD), but clearing him on a charge of coercion that stemmed from the same incident, according to multiple outlets.

While reading the verdict, Judge José Manuel Clemente Fernández-Prieto said that Rubiales sexually assaulted Hermoso when he “grabbed the player’s head with both hands and, then, in a sudden manner and without her consent and acceptance, kissed her on the lips,” according toThe Guardian.

“This action of kissing a woman on the lips has a clear sexual connotation and is not the way people greet those with whom they are not in an emotional relationship,” he added, according to the paper.

Luis Rubiales.CHEMA MOYA/POOL/AFP via Getty

CHEMA MOYA/POOL/AFP via Getty

The decision comes after a year and a half of controversy following the kiss, which took place on the world stage following the Spanish women’s team’s World Cup win on Aug. 20, 2023. Rubiales laterresigned from the federationon Sept. 10, 2023.

The trial began on Feb. 3 in Madrid, during which the 34-year-old midfielder spoke out. Hermoso said that she “never” consented to the 47-year-old kissing her on the lips at the tournament, according toReuters,BBC Newsand Spanish outletABC.

“I didn’t hear or understand anything. The next thing he did was put his hands over my ears and he kissed me on the mouth,” Hermoso said in court, per ABC.

Jennifer Hermoso.AP Photo/John Cowpland

AP Photo/John Cowpland

Hermoso said she felt “disrespected” and claimed that “at no point was I able to react” during the kiss, adding that it was “a moment that stained one of the happiest days of my life," according to the outlet.

Rubiales, meanwhile, refuted that he had sexually assaulted Hermoso, instead arguing in court that “You don’t win a World Cup every day,” and that he had also kissed other players in celebration after other wins.

source: people.com