MADRID-. The former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales will be tried on charges of sexual assault and coercion, for kissing the forward Jenni Hermoso without her consent after last year’s Women’s World Cup final, a judge confirmed Wednesday.
Spanish judge Francisco de Jorge had ruled in January that Rubiales’ kiss “was not consensual” and that the former leader acted in a “unilateral and surprising” manner.
Now De Jorge has agreed to issue an order confirming the opening of an oral trial.
Prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for Rubiales for the alleged sexual assault and for allegedly trying to coerce Hermoso into publicly supporting him following the reaction to his actions at the World Cup final in Sydney.
The judge also ruled that former Spanish coach Jorge Vilda, the sporting director of the Spanish men’s team, Albert Luque, and the federation’s former marketing chief, Rubén Rivera, be tried for trying to pressure Hermoso.
In January, the judge found enough evidence to believe that Rubiales also pressured Hermoso to appear in a video produced and published amid public outrage against him.
A trial date has not been set.
FIFA suspended Rubiales for three years, until after the 2026 men’s World Cup. His ban will expire before the next women’s tournament in 2027. The Spanish sports authority also declared him unfit to hold a position in sports management for three years. .
Source: AP
