The former Spanish soccer chief Luis Rubiales has said in the Court that he was “totally sure” that the player Jenni Hermoso consented to kiss her on the lips after her team won the World Cup in 2023.
Rubiales told the National Court of Spain that at the medal ceremony of the tournament he asked Hermoso “if I can kiss you, and she said” Ok “, that is what happened.”
Beautiful previously told the Court that “never” agreed to kiss Rubiales and that he had felt “disrespected.”
Rubiales, who was the head of the Spanish Football Association at the time of the tournament in Australia, resigned in disgrace later that year.
Prosecutors are looking for two and a half years in prison against Rubiales for sexual aggression for forced kiss and allegedly forcing beautiful to minimize the incident.
While Rubiales has denied that what he had done was illegal or immoral, the soccer chief admitted that it had been a mistake.
“It was a mistake, I was the president of the Federation and from the beginning I recognized that it was a mistake,” he said.
“I acted as an athlete who was a member of the group and should have adopted a more institutional role.”
“But that's not what you told the press, right?” The prosecutor pressed him, adding that “he did not seem regret or annoying.”
Rubiales admitted that he had not said that to the press at that time, but defended himself saying that he had focused on the latest news of the death of one of the players' parents.
President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales (R) Beautiful Jennifer Kisses of Spain (L) during the medal ceremony of the FIFA Women's World Cup final on August 20, 2023