Ex-Spanish Soccer Boss Luis Rubiales Found Guilty of Sexual Assault for Kissing Player Without Consent at Women's World Cup

Mr. Rubiales’s kiss of the player, Jennifer Hermoso, set off a national scandal, deepened debates about longstanding sexism in Spanish soccer and became a watershed moment in Spain’s #MeToo movement. A Spanish court on Thursday cleared Mr. Rubiales of a separate charge of coercion. For the sexual assault conviction, it fined Mr. Rubiales 10,800 euros, about $11,270. In delivering the ruling, Judge José Gonzales said that a kiss “is not the normal way of greeting people with whom one does not have an emotional relationship.” Mr. Rubiales was also ordered not to go within 200 meters, or about 650 feet, of Ms. Hermoso for one year.

Former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting player Jenni Hermoso on Thursday for kissing her without consent after the 2023 Women's World Cup final. Spain's High Court set a fine of over €10,000 ($10,434.00) for the crime, but acquitted Rubiales of a count of coercion. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence for Rubiales in a case that marred the celebrations of Spain's first Women's World Cup title and sparked a debate about sexism in women's football and wider Spanish society. Rubiales said Hermoso consented to the kiss, but she denied it.

The disgraced former Spanish football federation president spent two weeks on trial earlier this month following the scandal that erupted following his actions at the end of the World Cup final in 2023 in Sydney. He kissed Spain player Hermoso during the trophy presentation to mark Spain’s victory over England and has now been fined 10,000 euros (£8,200). But he has avoided a prison term, despite prosecutors requesting that the 47-year-old spend a year behind bars if found guilty. “The ruling bans Rubiales from going within a 200-meter radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for one year,” the court said in a statement. Under Spanish law, a non-consensual kiss can be classed as sexual assault – a criminal category that groups all types of sexual violence.