-
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent
Spain’s Jenni Hermoso has accused Luis Rubiales of sexual assault for kissing her on the lips without her consent after the Women’s World Cup final, the country’s prosecutors’ office said on Wednesday.
Sources close to the Spain forward, who plays her club football for Mexican side Pachuca, confirmed to ESPN that she has pressed charges.
Rubiales, the now-suspended president of the Spanish football federation, kissed Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia.
– Charting Spain FA president’s five controversial years in charge
With the complaint, Rubiales could face criminal charges in addition to the ongoing probe by Spain’s top sport court [TAD] for “serious misconduct” and an investigation by world governing body FIFA.
Last Monday, Spanish prosecutors announced they had begun a preliminary investigation into Rubiales’ conduct and offered Hermoso the opportunity to file a complaint against him.
Hermoso, 33, had 15 days to formalise the complaint and did so in person this week, sources confirmed to ESPN.
In a statement released in August, Hermoso said the “kiss was not consensual” and that she “felt vulnerable and the victim of aggression, an impulsive, sexist act.”
Rubiales had previously claimed the kiss — which he referred to as a “little peck” — was with consent.
“The behaviour of Rubiales could be deemed as sexual harassment on the basis of current Spanish legislation,” lawyer Ignacio Alvarez Serrano, an associate at Gomez-Acebo & Pombo abogados, told ESPN last week.
“[The legislation] punishes such misconduct with 1-2 years in prison and 18-24 months of professional disqualification.”
In the event of a successful prosecution, Rubiales would be unlikely to do jail time: Prison sentences under two years are usually suspended in Spain if the guilty party has no criminal record and does not re-offend.
While the incident took place in Australia, Spanish law allows for acts committed overseas to be prosecuted in Spanish courts, if the parties involved are Spanish nationals and the conduct in question is also an offence in the country where it took place.
Meanwhile, Rubiales remains the subject of an ongoing probe from TAD for “serious misconduct” and an investigation by FIFA.
TAD opened an investigation last week and, after classifying the infraction as “serious,” could ban Rubiales from the game for a maximum of two years. If they had classified it as “very serious,” the government could have stepped in to suspend Rubiales as the investigation is carried out.
Rubiales was suspended from his post by FIFA on Aug. 27, a day after he refused to step down when he delivered a defiant speech to the general assembly of his federation in which he claimed he was victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.”
As the fallout continues to Rubiales’ post-World Cup behaviour — when he also hugged and kissed other players and grabbed his crotch inappropriately — the coach of Spain’s women’s team, Jorge Vilda, lost his job on Tuesday.
Vilda — who has been criticised for applauding Rubiales’ non-resignation speech two weeks ago — was backed by Rubiales last September when 15 players renounced their availability for the Spain team until certain changes were made to the setup.
However, acting RFEF president Pedro Rocha took the decision to dismiss him this week, replacing him with his assistant coach, Montserrat Tome.
“After everything that was achieved, after giving everything working, my conscience is clear: I have given 100% over 17 years and I do not understand [the decision], I did not deserve my sacking,” Vilda told Cadena Ser on Tuesday.
“This team’s success will be valued more with time. I am left with the doubt over what the footballing criteria are that mean I am not continuing as coach. It is a strange situation. What hurts most is that my honour and behaviour are questioned.
“I will never applaud anything sexist, I will never applaud anything that goes against feminism, understood as the fight for equality
“I didn’t know what was going to happen: we thought there was going to be a resignation. There are lots of people, you are in the front row and it is your boss giving the speech, and a lot of it is directed at you.
“In that moment, he is saying publicly that he is extending my contract and valuing my work — and I did applaud.”
Spain’s government, players’ unions, players and many citizens have come out in support of Hermoso. Rubiales, meanwhile, has become a soccer outcast even while he refuses to resign.
Hermoso, a 33-year-old forward, now plays for Liga MX club Pachuca after a long career with top Spanish and European clubs, including Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.