EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockJenni Hermoso has told the trial of Spain’s former football chief Luis Rubiales that the kiss he gave her at the 2023 World Cup “stained one of the happiest days of my life”.
The Spanish world champion footballer was the first witness in Rubiales’ trial over the kiss, where he is accused of sexual assault and coercion.
She told the court in Madrid: “My boss was kissing me, and this shouldn’t happen in any social or work setting.”
Rubiales sparked major controversy when he kissed the athlete on the lips during the medal ceremony for the side’s World Cup victory in Australia, triggering protests and calls for his resignation. He denies any wrongdoing.
Hermoso told the court that she had never given permission to be kissed and felt “disrespected” as a woman.
“I greeted the queen, I greeted her daughter. The next thing was meeting Rubiales.”
Hermoso said she and the then-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation hugged and celebrated.
“The next thing he did was to grab me by the ears and kiss me on the mouth.”
“I didn’t hear or understand anything,” she said.
She went on: “A kiss on the lips is only given when I decide so”.
“No one came to ask me how I was” after the kiss, she told the trial on Monday.
The footballer said she felt “completely abandoned by the federation”.
She continued to celebrate “the greatest achievement” of her life with her teammates, Hermoso explained.
“There was no place for me to be crying or lying in the corner of the dressing room.”
The other players initially made fun of the incident before one, Irene Paredes, intervened to say: “Stop, this is serious.”
Hermoso said she was pulled aside soon after the kiss and asked to consent to a statement minimising the incident, which she refused to do.
She added that Rubiales asked her to record a video with him on the flight home because he was being accused of assault on social media.
“I said no, that I was not going to do anything, that I was not the cause of this.”
She said people were huddled around Rubiales during the flight, and that she saw his daughters crying.
ReutersThe footballer said her life had been “on stand-by” until the trial began on Monday.
She said she had received death threats that prompted her to leave Madrid with her family. She now plays club football in Mexico, as well as for Spain’s national team.
Prosecutors are calling for Rubiales, 47, to receive a one-year prison sentence for sexual assault.
They are also calling for him to be given a sentence of a year-and-a-half for coercion, for allegedly trying to pressure Hermoso into saying publicly that the kiss was consensual.
Rubiales denies the charges.
At the time, Rubiales said the kiss had been consensual and denounced a so-called witch-hunt by “fake feminism,” before resigning from his position.
Three of his former colleagues are also on trial accused of coercing Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual.
Jorge Vilda, coach of the World Cup-winning side, Rubén Rivera, the federation’s former head of marketing, and former sporting director, Albert Luque all deny the charges.
Spain’s Equality Minister Ana Redondo thanked Hermoso for her “bravery” in a post on X, shortly before the trial started.
The trial runs until 19 February.
