Luis Rubiales is one step away from the dock: the investigating judge who studied the case of the kiss by the former president of the Spanish Football Federation to the player Jennifer Hermoso, after the final of the Women's World Cup won by the 'Roja' last 20 August in Sydney, asked for him to stand trial.
As reported by the Iberian media, at the end of the preliminary investigations the magistrate concluded that the kiss "was not permitted" and constituted "a unilateral initiative undertaken by surprise", therefore liable to be assessed as a possible crime of sexual assault.
Not only Rubiales but also the coach of the national team that won the 2023 World Cup risks ending up on trial.
Judge Francisco de Jorge, who is following the case, assessed the evidence as plausible which would reveal the alleged pressure exerted by the former president of the Iberian Football Federation (RFEF) on the player after the kissing episode, to try to diminish its relevance with the collaboration of the same victim.
And for the same reason, according to a statement from the Audiencia Nacional court, the magistrate also asks to put on trial the coach of the women's national team at the time of the events Jorge Vilda, the sporting director of the men's national team Albert Luque and the former director of the area marketing of the Football Federation (RFEF) Ruben Rivera.
According to the press release from the Audiencia Nacional, for the investigating judge the possible trial will be the appropriate context to specifically formulate the categories of crime attributable to Rubiales and the other three accused in the case: in any case, concludes the magistrate, the kiss on the Rubiales' lips in Hermoso "refers to the sphere of intimacy reserved for sexual relations, particularly in a context involving two adults".
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