Spain’s Ex-Soccer Chief Luis Rubiales Goes on Trial Over Forced Kiss at World Cup

Europe|Spain’s Ex-Soccer Chief Goes on Trial Over Forced Kiss of Star Player
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/world/europe/spain-soccer-rubiales-trial-hermoso-world-cup-kiss.html
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Luis Rubiales kissed Jennifer Hermoso on the lips after the country’s national team won the 2023 Women’s World Cup. On Monday, she testified against him and other former officials.

By José Bautista and Amelia Nierenberg
José Bautista reported from Madrid, and Amelia Nierenberg from London.
Jennifer Hermoso, the Spanish soccer star who was forcibly kissed by Luis Rubiales, her country’s former top soccer official, testified as his trial opened on Monday that he had “ruined one of the happiest days of my life” — her team’s victory in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Ms. Hermoso described her horror at the unexpected kiss from Mr. Rubiales, who is accused of sexual assault and coercion. She also testified about the distress she felt after Mr. Rubiales and other Spanish soccer leaders waged what she called an intense campaign for her to publicly support him after the kiss ignited a social media storm.
“I felt disrespected,” Ms. Hermoso, 34, said in televised testimony at the trial outside Madrid, adding, “I didn’t look for that act, nor did I expect it.”
The kiss set off a national scandal, deepened debates about longstanding sexism in Spanish soccer and became a watershed moment in Spain’s #MeToo movement. Now, less than a year and a half later, Mr. Rubiales is one of four former Spanish soccer officials on trial.
Mr. Rubiales, 47, faces two and a half years in prison if convicted. The other three men, who include Jorge Vilda, the team’s coach at the 2023 World Cup, are accused of coercion. Each could face 18 months.
Ms. Hermoso has long said that the kiss was not consensual, which Mr. Rubiales has disputed.
“I couldn’t react — it was a thousandth of a second,” she testified.