Rubiales ordered to pay fine for kissing Jenni Hermoso
Former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will pay 10,800 euros and will be banned from approaching the footballer within a radius of 200 meters
Luis Rubiales has been found guilty of sexual assault in the Jenni Hermoso kiss case. The former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), who escaped a prison sentence, was ordered to pay a fine of 20 euros a day for 18 months – around 10,800 euros.
In the ruling, judge José Manuel Fernández-Prieto also banned Rubiales from approaching the footballer within a radius of 200 metres and from communicating with her for one year. The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of two years and six months in prison for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion. Charges of which he was acquitted by the courts. In addition to Rubiales, the other three defendants, Jorge Vilda, Albert Luque and Rubén Rivera, were also acquitted of the charges of coercion.
Luis Rubiales was tried for sexual assault because of the kiss with Jenni Hermoso at the Sydney Stadium in August 2023, at the moment when the players of the Spanish national team were being congratulated and receiving their world champion medals, a title they had just won.
Jenni Hermoso testified in court and once again gave her version of the moment and the pressure she suffered in the following weeks.
“I had never kissed him on the mouth. I only kiss him on the mouth when I decide to do so. He grabbed my head passionately, it was milliseconds. I felt like I was out of my mind with what happened: I was being kissed by my boss and that shouldn’t happen in this context,” she recalled, continuing: “I think it was a moment that tarnished one of the happiest days of my life. I wasn’t expecting it at all, I was disrespected. When I left the podium, I met Alexia and Irene and told them. Alexia said to me: ‘What are you saying? That’s harsh.’ I told them, surprised. When I went down to the locker room I felt that it hadn’t been normal and I received a phone call from Ana Álvarez, the marketing director, who told me that the president wanted to speak to me.”
Misa Rodriguez, Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and Laia Codina said that their teammate was upset “from the very first moment” and complained before they had even left the pitch. The four Spanish players also confirmed that they had put pressure on Jenni Hermoso to publicly apologize and downplay the kiss with Luis Rubiales.
In turn, Rubiales did not change his version and reaffirmed that he asked permission to kiss the athlete during the medal ceremony in the 2023 World Cup final. The lawyers for the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation admitted inappropriate behavior towards Jenni Hermoso, but not punishable by criminal charges.
Luis Rubiales ended up avoiding prison and, as mentioned above, will pay a fine of more than 10 thousand euros, being prohibited from approaching Jenni Hermoso within a radius of 200 meters.
