Huge trial over contentious World Cup kiss grips Spain

Graham Keeley reports from Madrid as the country soaks up the saga after Luis Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips

- Graham Keeley

It is a trial that has gripped Spain. The nation’s former football chief Luis Rubiales is accused of sexual assault and coercion over a kiss in the wake of Spain winning the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Millions watched on television around the world as Rubiales cupped player Jenni Hermoso’s head and kissed her on the lips during the medal ceremony. The furore overshadowed Spain’s triumph and galvanised Spain’s version of a MeToo movement, called SeAcabo – it’s over – where female players were fighting against sexism and inequalities with male players.

On Monday, Hermoso told a court that Rubiales forcibly kissed her on the lips. Rubiales denies any wrongdoing. Giving evidence on the first day of the trial, which was broadcast live on television in Spain, Hermoso said she never consented to being kissed by Rubiales.

“I felt it was totally out of place, and I then realised my boss was kissing me and this shouldn’t happen in any social or workplace setting. I felt disrespected,” she said. “One of the happiest days of my life was tarnished and I think that’s very important for me to say that I never sought, much less expected, that this would happen. I think personally that it was a lack of respect.”

Hermoso gave evidence just a metre from where Rubiales was sitting in the dock. Unlike the ex-football boss, who talked to his lawyer throughout the hearing, Hermoso told the judge she was “listening all the time”. Hermoso, who plays for Tigres in Mexico, said on the team bus back towards the airport she was shown a statement that had been drafted on her behalf by the football federation. It was issued in her name later that day.