Luis Rubiales: Former Spain FA chief tells court Jennifer Hermoso consented to World Cup final kiss

Former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales reiterated before a judge on Tuesday that forward Jenni Hermoso gave him consent for a kiss at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final presentation ceremony.

Rubiales is accused of sexual assault and coercion for allegedly trying to downplay the kiss, which sparked outrage in Spain, and marred the celebrations of the team’s first World Cup title.

“I asked her if I could give her a little kiss and she said OK,” Rubiales said. “I’m totally sure [she gave consent].”

Hermoso said on the first day of the trial last week that she did not consent.

The three other defendants were expected to testify on Tuesday – former women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda, the federation’s former sports director of the men’s national team, Albert Luque, and the former head of marketing, Ruben Rivera. They are all accused of coercion.

An expert on lip reading also testified on Tuesday, saying that Rubiales asked Hermoso, “Can I give you a little kiss?”
Videos were shown with Hermoso celebrating and later talking about the kiss.

“Nobody expected it, but I don’t care, we are world champions, that’s what matters,” Hermoso said in audio files reproduced in court from an interview she gave shortly after the final.

“I didn’t like it, but all I can say is that it was part of the moment, it won’t become anything more than that, it will go down as an anecdote.

“Whoever wants to make a big deal about it will do it, and those who don’t, won’t,” she said after the reporter told her that there was a lot of talk about the kiss back in Spain. “I’m very sure that it won’t become a big deal, we are the champions.”

There was also a video of Rubiales telling the squad that he was “sad” with the repercussions of the kiss. He apologised and said that he “felt bad” it marred the celebrations. Hermoso was seen in the video laughing after his words.

The defence also tried to discredit the previous testimony of Hermoso’s brother, who said Vilda pressured Hermoso into recording a video with Rubiales to downplay the situation.

The defence showed an interview with Hermoso’s brother himself downplaying the kiss. He had said in his own testimony that he downplayed the kiss at the time to make sure the focus was on the celebrations.

Rubiales resigned under pressure three weeks after the scandal surfaced and was banned by FIFA for three years. He had said he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists”.

Hermoso testified that she “felt disrespected” by Rubiales after winning the World Cup. She said that the kiss “stained one of the happiest days of my life”.

The kiss prompted outrage in Spain about the prevalence of sexism in sports and beyond.

Prosecutors, Hermoso and the Spain players’ association want Rubiales jailed for two-and-a-half years, fined €50,000 (£41,700) for damages, and banned from working as a sports official. They want the other three defendants sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison.