2023-09-12 14:08:25
2023 Women’s World Cup file file The former president of the Spanish Football Federation, who forcibly kissed the player Jennifer Hermoso after the World Cup final, is summoned by an investigating judge “to be heard as an accused “. He faces up to four years in prison.
Two days after his resignation having taken three long weeks, justice followed suit. The former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, is summoned to court on Friday in the investigation into the sexual assault he inflicted on player Jennifer Hermoso after the world title of the Roja feminine, announced a Madrid court on Tuesday September 12. The one who had also been suspended by Fifa for a period of 90 days is summoned by an investigating judge “to be heard as an accused”, the National Court of Justice specified in a press release.
This decision follows the green light given Monday by Judge Francisco de Jorge to the request of the prosecution, which called for proceedings to be initiated against Luis Rubiales for “sexual assault” and “crime of coercion” on Jennifer Hermoso. The Spanish public prosecutor’s office, which opened a preliminary investigation on August 28 into this case, requested that the former president of the Spanish federation be heard by the courts as the accused and Jennifer Hermoso as the victim, after having received a complaint from the player.
On August 20, a few minutes after the coronation of the Spanish team which he eclipsed, Luis Rubiales caused international indignation after forcibly kissing Jennifer Hermoso. Refusing to resign for “a little consented kiss”, he attacked, during a dismaying speech on August 25 – applauded by many executives of the federation – a supposed “false feminism” and argued that he had obtained authorization of the player before kissing her. A version denied by the 33-year-old international who said she “felt vulnerable and victim […] of an impulsive and sexist act, inappropriate and without any consent of [sa] part».
Continuing to deny the facts even though they were broadcast live to millions of viewers around the world, Rubiales said he acted out of concern to protect Spanish football and wanted to concentrate on its defense. “I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power to make it prevail,” he wrote in his resignation letter.
“Constant pressure”
Since a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered as sexual assault, a criminal category bringing together all types of sexual violence, as is the case in France. According to a spokesperson for the prosecution, the penalty incurred by Luis Rubiales ranges from a fine to four years in prison.
The crime of coercion was also retained because, according to the prosecution, “Jenni Hermoso explained that she had been, with her entourage, the victim of constant pressure from Rubiales and her professional entourage so that she justified and approved the facts”.
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