February 4 – Disgraced former Spanish Football Association (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales ruined what should have been “one of the happiest days” of Jenny Hermoso’s life, she told the first day of the infamous “kissgate” scandal trial in Madrid.
Testifying in the trial, the 34-year-old insisted she did not consent to being kissed on the lips by Rubiales after winning the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Sydney.
The incident sparked outrage in Spain, made worldwide headlines on front and back pages and led to Rubiales being thrown out of football.
“I felt disrespected,” Hermoso said. It “stained one of the happiest days of my life.”
Rubiales, accused of sexual assault, has denied the charges, claiming the kiss was consensual and happened in a “moment of jubilation.”
Facing immense pressure, he resigned three weeks later and was banned by FIFA for three years, all the while insisting he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists.”
The incident overshadowed Spain’s first Women’s World Cup triumph and prosecutors, Hermoso and the Spain players’ association want a prison sentence for Rubiales, a payment of €50,000 for damages and for him to be banned from working as a sports official.
Rubiales is reportedly scheduled to give evidence on February 12 and the trial is expected to last until February 19.
“I knew I was being kissed by my boss and that should not happen in any social or work environment,” Hermoso said in court in the Spanish capital. “I didn’t hear or understand anything. A kiss on the lips is only given when I decide so”.
She said after the incident her life was put on hold and that she was only able to escape the spotlight in Mexico, where she plays her club football.
“Until today it seems that my life has been on standby, honestly I have not lived freely. From the first moment I set foot in Spain I had cameras all around me, outside my house, while I was having breakfast with my mother, they followed me, they took my photo. … I had to leave Madrid with all my people because for a moment I felt afraid in case someone was chasing me. I received death threats.”
Hermoso also testified that Rubiales had pressured her to make a statement downplaying the incident amid the public backlash against him.
“And I told him no, that I wasn’t going to do anything,” she said. “I told him I was sorry, but I wasn’t going to do it.”
Among the nearly 20 witnesses expected to testify are Spain men’s national coach Luis de la Fuente and some of Hermoso’s teammates on the women’s team, including former world player of the year Alexia Putellas.
Also on trial are former Spain women’s national coach Jorge Vilda, former sports director of the Spain men’s team Albert Luque, and the federation’s former head of marketing, Rubén Rivera. They are accused of allegedly pressuring Hermoso to defend Rubiales publicly in a statement after the incident, which she refused to do.
The prosecution claims Vilda warned Hermoso’s brother that his sister’s football career would suffer if she did not agree to record a video backing Rubiales’ claim the kiss was consensual.
Contact the writer of this story, Andrew Warshaw, at moc.l1738677038labto1738677038ofdlr1738677038owedi1738677038sni@w1738677038ahsra1738677038w.wer1738677038dna1738677038