Spain The kiss of former soccer chief is wrong ‘In any social or work environment’: beautiful

The star of Spain, Jenni Hermoso, said on Monday the trial of the former Upon Football Chief Luis Rubiales that the forced kiss he gave in 2023 “should not happen in any social or work environment.”

Rubiales caused worldwide indignation after hugging Hermoso’s head and kissed her unre requested after Spain beat England to win the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia.

Prosecutors are looking for two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault for the forced kiss and 18 months to allegedly coercion to Hermoso, 34, to minimize the incident.

Rubiales, 47, has called the kiss a harmless “fish between friends celebrating” and has denied any coercion.

“This should not happen in any social or work environment … A kiss on the lips only occurs when I decide,” said the opening day of the trial in the National Court of San Fernando de Henares, near Madrid.

“As a woman, I felt disrespected. It was a moment that stained one of the happiest days of my life,” added beautiful, the top scorer of all time for the national women’s team.

“It is very important for me to say that at no time I looked for that act, much less wait.”

Rubiales is scheduled to take the position on February 12 in the highly expected programmed trial to run until February 19.

Among the defendants together with Rubiales are the coach of the national team of Ex-Women, Jorge Vilda, and two former officials of the Federation, Ruben Rivera and Albert Luque.

They are also accused of trying to force beautiful with prosecutors looking for 18 months in prison against them.

Life ‘in stand by’

Beautiful told the court that the federation officials pressed him repeatedly, family and friends after the kiss.

She said she suffered an insufferable media pressure after returning to Spain and received death threats, with “the people who waited for me outside, the people who follow me, people took me photos while having breakfast with my mother.”

Beautiful, who now plays in Mexico, said he had to leave Madrid with his family due to the fear he felt.

“Until today it seems that my life has been standing” due to the case, he added.

The scandal that shook Spanish football and destroyed Rubiales’ career broke on August 20, 2023, moments after the national women’s team had assured the glory of the World Cup in Sydney.

When he joined his teammates to collect the medals of his winners, Rubiales squeezed his head and kissed her on the lips before letting her go with two slaps on the back.

The act unleashed a public protest for what critics considered an abuse of power and made beautiful an icon of the fight against macho culture and sexism in sport.

A recent reform of the Spanish Criminal Code classifies a non -agreed kiss as sexual aggression.

Historical success eclipsed

“Thank you again, Jenni, for your courage. Thanks to you and your teammates, we add another victory for feminism,” wrote the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, in X shortly before the trial began.

Rubiales, who was already under investigation for alleged corruption in his role as head of the Federation, finally gave in pressure and resigned in September 2023, two days after the start of an investigation into the kiss. He had been head of the Federation since 2018.

In a recent Netflix documentary entitled “It ended” (“It’s over”), who looks back in the anger of the players after the scandal eclipsed his historical success, Hermoso revealed that he cried after the kiss.

She told court that “nobody came to wonder how” after the incident and felt “completely abandoned by the Federation.”