MADRID (AP) — The Spanish participant kissed on the lips by the soccer president on the Women’s World Cup ultimate appeared in courtroom on Tuesday to testify within the sexual assault case in opposition to the previous official.
Jenni Hermoso was on the Madrid courtroom to provide her model of the kiss by Luis Rubiales following Spain’s victory over England within the ultimate in Sydney in August.
“Everything went well,” Hermoso instructed reporters afterward. “The judicial process will continue its course, and thanks for the support that many of you had given to me.”
The incident sparked outrage throughout the soccer world and ignited one of many worst crises within the historical past of the game in Spain. It additionally led to a boycott of the nationwide crew by the World Cup-winning gamers, and to the eventual resignation of Rubiales regardless of his denial of wrongdoing and his allegation that the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso was anticipated to reiterate in courtroom her allegations that the kiss was undesirable and Rubiales and his employees tried to strain her and her household to downplay the incident that tarnished Spain’s first Women’s World Cup title.
The testimony was behind shut doorways. Spanish media stated Hermoso requested the choose to maintain her courtroom look as non-public as potential. She arrived carrying a gray coat and waved to journalists earlier than getting into the courtroom by means of certainly one of its foremost entrances alongside along with her attorneys.
Spanish state prosecutors accused Rubiales of sexual assault and coercion, alleging he tried to persuade Hermoso and her kinfolk to publicly downplay the kiss.
The choose can also be listening to testimony from different World Cup-winning gamers, coaches and federation officers, earlier than deciding whether or not to start out a trial.
Rubiales beforehand denied wrongdoing to the choose who imposed a restraining order on him to not contact Hermoso.
The 33-year-old Hermoso, the document scorer for Spain’s ladies’s crew, stated final yr she obtained threats within the fallout from the kiss, although she didn’t elaborate.
Hermoso turned considerably of a celeb in Spain after coming ahead to denounce the kiss and assist promote a “Me Too” motion within the nation. She was one of many New Year’s Eve presenters on public tv on Saturday, calling for a 2024 with extra equality.
The boycott of the nationwide crew ended final yr after gamers got ensures of change inside the federation following the intervention of presidency officers.
Based on a sexual consent regulation handed final yr, Rubiales may face a positive or a jail sentence of 1 to 4 years if discovered responsible, in accordance with the prosecutors’ workplace in Madrid. The new regulation eradicated the distinction between “sexual harassment” and “sexual assault,” sanctioning any unconsented sexual act.
FIFA banned Rubiales for 3 years till after the lads’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire earlier than the subsequent ladies’s match in 2027.
He resigned because the federation president and as a UEFA vp on Sept. 10 amid mounting strain in Spain from lawmakers and gamers. One day later, UEFA thanked Rubiales for his service.
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