February 7 – As the trial of disgraced former Spanish FA (RFEF) chief Luis Rubiales moved towards the end of its first week, teammates of Jenni Hermoso corroborated her account of the infamous World Cup kiss when they testified on Thursday.
Rubiales has been accused of sexual assault and coercion for kissing Hermoso on the lips during the Women’s World Cup trophy presentation in Sydney last year.
Rubiales was suspended by FIFA and finally resigned yet has always maintained his actions were consensual.
The prosecution alleges that Rubiales, 47, and three other RFEF employees – the former Spain women’s coach Jorge Vilda, the former Newcastle United forward and ex-RFEF sporting director Luque and former marketing director Ruben Rivera – coerced Hermoso into publicly supporting Rubiales’ version of the incident. Rubiales, Luque, Rivera and Vilda all deny any wrongdoing.
Defender Irene Paredes recalled the treatment her teammate faced by federation officials in the days after the World Cup final.
“On the plane she was already very overwhelmed and telling us that they wouldn’t leave her alone, they wouldn’t stop,” Paredes said.
“Jenni was worried, she was upset,” she added. “I saw her cry as she told us this, because it was an issue that was weighing on her and what she wanted was to celebrate the triumph we had just achieved.”
Alexia Putellas, two-time world player of the year, told how Hermoso wept on the flight home to Spain from the victory in Australia because Rubiales allegedly tried to get her to make a video with him to respond to the public criticism that erupted after he grabbed her head and placed a kiss on her lips before a global televised audience.
“She said how (Rubiales) wouldn’t stop telling her his version of the events and asking her to come out and say that she had consented to the kiss, that she should do it for his daughters,” Putellas said.
The trial continues with Rubiales set to give evidence next week.
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