Luis Rubiales will stand trial for alleged sexual assault and coercion over his kiss on Jenni Hermoso after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
Former Spain head coach Jorge Vilda, now in charge of the Morocco women’s national team, will also stand trial over alleged coercion, along with former sporting director of the men’s national team and ex Newcastle United striker Albert Luque and the Spanish Football Federation’s (RFEF) former head of marketing Ruben Rivera.
The Athletic reported in January the judge investigating Rubiales’ potential charges had recommended the case go to trial, and National Court (Audencia Nacional) judge Francisco de Jorge has now ordered the opening of the trial.
The court has set a bail of €65,000 for Rubiales, 46, to cover “civil liberties” for the sexual assault charge, to be paid within 24 hours.
An additional bail of €65,000 has been set for the charge of coercion to be paid jointly between Vilda, Luque and Rivera.
A statement from the National Court read: “The National Court judge Francisco de Jorge has ordered the opening of the oral trial of the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, for the non-consensual kiss of the Spanish national team player Jennifer Hermoso after the World Cup final in Sydney (Australia) on 20 August and for the subsequent coercion to make a public statement stating that it had been consensual.
“For these facts, the head of Central Court One, in accordance with the requests of the prosecution, the player herself and the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE), agreed to open a trial against Rubiales for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion.”
Rubiales grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on the lips after Spain’s World Cup final win over England on August 20 in Sydney, Australia, as she received her winner’s medal.
The National Court statement described the kiss as “non-consensual”.
Rubiales, who at first refused to resign as RFEF president over the incident, before eventually stepping down after being provisionally sanctioned by FIFA, has always claimed Hermoso did give consent for him to kiss her. Hermoso has testified that the kiss was not consensual, and that attempts were made to force her into saying the opposite.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Rubiales.
The charge of coercion relates to the subsequent public statements insisting that the kiss was consensual.
A statement from the National Court in January said judge De Jorge “considers that there are indications of the existence of a concerted action” conducted by Luque, Rivera and Vilda — and “agreed with Rubiales” — to “break the will of Jennifer Hermoso” by “getting her to agree to record a video in which said that the kiss had been consensual”.
Luque, Rivera and Vilda have denied the charge of coercion.
The four men have ten days to present their defence pleadings.
(Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
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