Spanish soccer’s former chief Luis Rubiales was found guilty on Feb. 20 of sexually assaulting a player after kissing her on the lips following Spain’s victory in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
Rubiales, 47, was also ordered not to come within 200 meters (656 feet) of the player, 34-year-old Jenni Hermoso, or communicate with her for a year.
He also will have to pay her 3,000 euros (about $3,150) in compensation.
Rubiales was cleared of the charge of coercion for trying to downplay the kiss during the awards ceremony after the final in Sydney.
He can appeal the ruling.
The kiss sparked outrage in Spain and marred the celebrations of Spain’s first Women’s World Cup win, which saw the Spanish national team, nicknamed La Roja, beat England on penalties in the final.
During the high-profile trial that lasted about two weeks, Rubiales argued that Hermoso consented to the kiss, but the striker denied that she had done so.
Prosecutors asked for a prison sentence of 2 1/2 years for Rubiales, breaking it down as one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion. They also wanted the other three defendants accused of coercion to be sentenced to 1 1/2 years behind bars if found guilty.
The trio of other former Spanish federation members accused of trying to coerce Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual were Jorge Vilda, former women’s team coach; Albert Luque, sports director of the men’s team; and Ruben Rivera, head of marketing.
They were all cleared.
Hermoso testified in the Madrid court that she “felt disrespected” and was pressured into recording a video with Rubiales, then the federation president, to downplay the kissing incident.
She said the fallout from the kiss “tainted one of the happiest days of my life,” while her teammates testified that it left her overwhelmed, crying, and exhausted in the following hours and days.
Rubiales and the other defendants said they never attempted to pressure Hermoso into downplaying the incident and argued that she didn’t hold the kiss to be at all significant when it occurred on the pitch in Sydney.
Rubiales resigned under pressure three weeks after the incident and was banned by soccer’s governing body, FIFA, for three years.
His annual salary at the RFEF was slightly more than 675,000 euros ($708,695) at the time of his resignation.
Rubiales has since said that he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.”
During his testimony, he said he regretted the kiss because it wasn’t the right attitude for a national federation president but that it should not be considered sexual assault.
The incident prompted widespread outrage both inside Spain and internationally and sparked one of the most talked-about scandals in the history of Spanish soccer.
Spain’s left-wing government, which demanded the removal of Rubiales from the RFEF in the wake of the kiss, praised the verdict for upholding the victim’s accusations.
“Not long ago, it was unthinkable that a court would recognize a kiss without consent as a sexual assault,” she said. “Feminism is changing everything: Only ‘yes’ means ’yes’.”
Regarding any potential appeal, Hermoso’s lawyer said that it was up to his client to decide if “she wants to keep up the fight.”
Members of the legal team for Rubiales have not yet commented on the ruling.
