Ex-RFEF President Luis Rubiales convicted of sexual assault following kiss without consent | OneFootball

Former RFEF President Luis Rubiales has been convicted of sexual assault, after the court ruled that he had kissed Jenni Hermoso without her consent during the celebrations of Spain’s 2023 World Cup triumph. Less than a week after going into deliberation, a decision was made.

The prosecution had requested a sentence of 2.5 years for Rubiales, for sexual assault and coercion, of which 1.5 years was for the latter part of the sentence. Former RFEF Marketing Director Ruben Rivera, ex-Spain manager Jorge Vilda and ex-sporting director Albert Luque were also accused of coercion, however all four have been cleared of those charges.

The sentence for Rubiales falls a long way short of that requested by the prosecution, with Rubiales being sentenced to a fine of 18 months at a rate of €20 per day. The total fee that Rubiales will be forced to pay will amount to €10.8k over the course of that period. He will also have a restraining order placed on him, which does not allow him to come within 200m of Hermoso for the next year, as reported by Marca.

Hermoso had testified that she at no point consented to the kiss, while noting that after the incident, she felt disgusted by the events. Rubiales had protested that he asked Hermoso for permission before he kissed her, but this was not the conclusion drawn by the court.

It is not the only legal trouble that Rubiales is in, as he is currently part of two further investigations. One of those centres around alleged corruption for financial manoeuvers during his time as president of the RFEF, and another for alleged fraud, due to the manner in which the contract between the RFEF and Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Supercup to be hosted in the Middle East, which was brokered by Gerard Pique’s company Kosmos.