Former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales has told a court that he was “totally sure” player Jenni Hermoso consented to him kissing her.
Rubiales is on trial in Madrid accused of sexual assault for kissing Hermoso on the lips after Spain won the Women’s World Cup in Sydney in August 2023.
Giving evidence today, he told the court that he asked Ms Hermoso if he could kiss her before it happened.
“When Jenny came up to me, she kind of made a face. We’ve known each other for a long time. Obviously, the kiss was because we became champions.
“She’d missed a penalty and with all the tension during the game, I said, ‘forget about the penalty – we’re champions and this is down to you. Without you, we wouldn’t have done it’.
“And she hugged me very, very hard just below my armpits and lifted me off the ground.
“When I kind of hit the ground again, I said, ‘can you can I give you a kiss?’ and she said, ‘okay’,” he claimed.
He also said that the “law of physics” meant that he could not be “on top of her” during the kiss.
“My feet come off the ground, you’ll see that. I do what I can to not fall over and lose my balance. Anybody, who knows anything about the law of physics knows that, you have to bend your knees in order to take off the ground,” he said.
The 47-year-old is also accused of attempting to coerce Ms Hermoso – with the help of three other former soccer federation officials – into publicly saying the kiss was consensual.
He denies the charges.
The ensuing scandal after the kiss eclipsed Spain’s first women’s World Cup victory and proved a tipping point for efforts by Spain’s female players to expose sexism and achieve parity with male counterparts.
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