England forward Alessia Russo hopes the aftermath of the Luis Rubiales trial brings about “change” and reiterated her side’s solidarity with the Spain women’s team.
Last week, the Audiencia Nacional court imposed an 18-month fine equating to €20 a day on former Spanish football federation president Rubiales, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony following the World Cup final with England in 2023.
The sides face each other on Wednesday at Wembley for the first time since Spain triumphed in that Sydney final, with England now set to take on the world champions in the second encounter of their new Nations League campaign after drawing 1-1 with Portugal on Friday night.
“We’ve stood in solidarity with them since the moment that it began,” said Russo. “It’s really a shame that they have to have gone through this, but we hope that it makes change going further forward.
“It’s a testament to the players to be so brave to speak out, but also to still be performing at the level that they are. I’ve got [Arsenal] team-mates that have been through it, and they’ve acted with so much class through it all.
“We stand with them and we back them. We’re all with them through the process. I know it’s been tough on team-mates who I’ve played with, and they’re fantastic girls.
“I think it’s a real shame what they’ve been through, but they’ve been professional through it all and have never let their football standards slip, so massive respect to them all.”
Rubiales kissed Spain forward Hermoso without her consent following the team’s victory at the 2023 tournament.
The ruling against Rubiales also prohibits him from going within 200 metres of Hermoso, or communicating with her, for one year.
He has also had an appeal against his three-year ban from football dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Rubiales was acquitted of allegedly trying to coerce Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual.
Former Spanish national team coach Jorge Vilda was also found not guilty of coercion along with other Spanish federation staff members at the time, Albert Luque and Ruben Rivera.
It has been reported that both Hermoso and Rubiales intend to appeal against the verdict.
Since their World Cup triumph against England, Spain have qualified for the Olympics and last week came back from two goals down to beat Belgium 3-2 in second-half added time in their Nations League opener.
“It says how great they are,” said England boss Sarina Wiegman. “First of all that Spain has just a very good team, but it also says that they show resilience and that they’re so brave.
“We’re talking about it again today, I think we have to keep talking about it, I would almost say, unfortunately, and we have to keep telling the world that we stand in solidarity with them and hopefully it will make change.
“And I think it only made change, but now we want to talk and play the game tomorrow here at Wembley.”
