Jail term sought for Rubiales over unsolicited kiss – reports،
A Spanish High Court prosecutor is seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for former Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales for his unsolicited kiss on player Jenni Hermoso, according to court documents seen Wednesday by Reuters and EFE.
Prosecutor Marta Durántez charged Rubiales with one count of sexual assault and one count of coercion for his alleged actions following the kiss, offenses punishable by prison terms of one year and one year, respectively. half.
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Rubiales, 46, grabbed Hermoso and kissed her on the lips on August 20 last year at the awards ceremony after Spain's Women's World Cup victory in Sydney.
Hermoso and her teammates said the kiss was unwanted and humiliating, but Rubiales maintained it was consensual and denied any wrongdoing.
The prosecutor also accused former women's national team coach Jorge Vilda, the team's current sports director Albert Luque and the federation's marketing manager Rubén Rivera of forcing Hermoso to say the kiss was consensual.
The indictment says the three officials harassed Hermoso by exerting “constant and repeated acts of pressure” directly on the player and through her friends and family. They each face sentences of 18 months respectively.
All three denied wrongdoing when they appeared in court.
Durántez is asking Rubiales to pay €50,000 ($54,080) in damages to Hermoso, as well as an additional €50,000 paid jointly by Rubiales, Vilda, Luque and Rivera.
Additionally, she requested a restraining order prohibiting Rubiales from coming within 200 yards of Hermoso and communicating with her for the next seven and a half years.
If convicted and sentenced as the prosecutor requests, Rubiales would not necessarily have to go to prison. The Spanish penal code allows judges to “exceptionally” suspend prison sentences if – as in this case – none of the sentences imposed individually exceeds two years.
Rubiales was named in another corruption investigation that rocked the RFEF last week, when police raided the federation's headquarters and an apartment owned by Rubiales, arresting seven people.
A Spanish court has been investigating since June 2022 whether Rubiales committed mismanagement when the RFEF agreed with former Barcelona player Gerard Pique's company Kosmos to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, then a judicial source told Reuters.
Rubiales, who was in the Dominican Republic during last week's searches, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and told El Español newspaper he would cooperate with the investigation.
A judicial source said his lawyers told the judge he would return from the Dominican Republic on April 6.
Information from Reuters and the EFE news agency was used in this report.
