Spanish court wants ex-FA chief Rubiales, coach Vilda to stand trial

A Spanish High Court judge on Thursday proposed that former soccer federation chief Luis Rubiales be tried for kissing player Jenni Hermoso's lips after Spain won the Women's World Cup.

The court said in a statement that Judge Francisco de Jorge also requested the trial of former women's team coach Jorge Vilda, as well as Albert Luque, sports director of the men's team, and Ruben Rivera , head of marketing for the federation, for putting pressure on Hermoso. say the kiss was consensual.

The court quoted the judge as saying that, contrary to Rubiales' statements, the investigation showed that the kiss “was not consensual and was a unilateral and surprising move.”

Prosecutors and lawyers can still present their arguments, after which the court will decide if and when to convene the trial. Until now, the case was handled by an investigating judge.

Hermoso filed a criminal complaint for sexual assault and coercion in September following the winners' podium kiss on Aug. 20, saying she felt “vulnerable and a victim of assault.”

The case shocked the sports world and sparked a MeToo movement in Spain, with protests and new accusations from women that prominent or powerful men had forced intimacy on them.

In Spain, the hashtag #SeAcabo (“It’s over”) has become a rallying cry on social media.

Besides the kiss itself, the judge found evidence that Rubiales and co-defendants may have committed a related offense in their coordinated action to force Hermoso to “record a video in which she said the kiss was consensual.

Hermoso refused and eventually filed a criminal complaint.

Rubiales resigned as head of the Spanish FA in September and no longer works in the sport as he is serving a three-year FIFA ban from all football-related activity, while Vilda was named head coach of the Morocco women's national team in October.