Jennifer Hermoso, a player for the Spanish women's national football team, said on Tuesday that it was not consensual when Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales kissed her on Tuesday following the team's World Cup victory. Photo by Mariscal/EPA-EFE
Luis Rubiales resigned as Spain's chief football official last September over the incident, but continued to claim that the kiss was consensual. File photo by Juan Carlos Hidalgo/EPA-EFE
January 2 (UPI) — Jenny Hermoso, a member of the Spanish national football team, testified in Madrid on Tuesday that the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed her on the lips during the World Cup medal ceremony without her consent.
Hermoso He told the court She said the kiss, which occurred after the Spain women's national team won the World Cup in Australia last year, was “unexpected and was not consensual at any time.”
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“Everything is in the hands of justice, that's all I can say,” she told reporters after testifying.
Hermoso, one of the most prominent football stars in Spain, followed the incident by filing a criminal complaint against Rubiales because of the kiss, and then tried to pressure her to speak in his favor.
Madrid judge Francisco de Jorge is trying to determine whether charges of sexual assault and coercion should be brought against Rubiales over the incident, as a kiss without consent could be considered sexual assault under Spanish law.
Rubiales, who resigned from his position as a senior official in Spanish football last September over the incident. Keep demanding That the kiss was consensual and that he asked for her permission. She strongly rejected that assertion in her testimony, saying she felt victimized in what should have been a happy time for her and her teammates.
“No person, in any business, sporting or social setting, should be the victim of this type of non-consensual behaviour,” she said in court. “I felt vulnerable and the victim of aggression, an act that was reckless, sexist, inappropriate and without any consent on my part. I was simply not respected.”
FIFA suspended Rubiales in the fall when he initially refused to resign. Dozens of women on the Spanish national team said they would refuse to play until he did.
A judge issued a restraining order prohibiting Rubiales from coming within 600 feet of Hermoso, and in October, FIFA imposed a three-year ban on him from all football-related activities.
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