Luis Rubiales has been given a €10,800 (£8,935) fine and a restraining order after being found guilty of sexually assaulting Jennifer Hermoso during Spain’s World Cup final celebrations in 2023.
The former president of the Spanish Football Federation kissed Hermoso without her consent during the Women’s World Cup medal ceremony after Spain beat England.
Along with the fine, Rubiales has been prohibited from approaching Hermoso within a 200-metre radius and from communicating with her for one year.
Rubiales was also acquitted of coercion after he was accused of trying to get Hermoso to downplay the incident. Prosecutors had demanded a two-and-a-half year jail sentence.
During the trial, Hermoso said she felt ‘disrespected’ by Rubiales’ actions and said the fallout from the final had put her life on ‘standby’.
‘I felt it was totally out of place and I then realised my boss was kissing me, and this shouldn’t happen in any social or workplace setting,’ she said.
‘I felt disrespected. One of the happiest days of my life was tarnished and I think it’s very important for me to say that I never sought, much less expected, that this would happen. I think personally that it was a lack of respect.
‘Obviously, even today, I say that my life changed at that moment. I’d spent years fighting to win titles for my team, like the World Cup, but all that’s happened to me means that I just haven’t been able to enjoy any of it from the moment I set foot back in Madrid.
‘I’m a world champion but it seems that, even to this day, my life has been on standby. I honestly haven’t been able to live freely.’
Rubiales, meanwhile, remained adamant that he had received consent from Hermoso.
This Is Not Right
On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.
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Read more:
- Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro’s year-long violence against women campaign
- Yvette Cooper’s message to abusers and rapists: The streets don’t belong to you
- Remembering the women killed by men in 2024
- Stories about violence against women don’t make an impact – this is why
- Men – we need your help to end violence against women
- What to do if your loved one is at risk from domestic abuse
‘I am absolutely sure that she gave me her permission,’ Rubiales told the court.
‘In that moment it was something completely spontaneous.’
More to follow…
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