MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso was due to testify on Monday in the trial of former soccer federation boss Luis Rubiales over a kiss that triggered a national “Me Too” moment.
The 34-year-old striker is the first witness in the trial starting at Madrid’s High Court and set to last at least nine days.
Rubiales, 47, is accused of sexual assault then attempting to coerce Hermoso – with the help of three other men – into declaring that the kiss had been consensual.
He denies those charges.
Rubiales was seen by millions around the world grabbing Hermoso by the head and planting a kiss on her lips during the awards ceremony following the 2023 women’s World Cup final.
While he said the gesture was consensual, she said she felt a victim of aggression.
The ensuing scandal 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.
The trial will see several of Hermoso’s teammates, including Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, testify.
Rubiales has asked his daughters to take the stand.
He and his co-defendants – former women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda, former Spanish football federation (RFEF) sporting director Albert Luque and the RFEF’s former head of marketing Ruben Rivera – will testify on or after Feb. 12 once the court has interviewed the rest of the witnesses.
The prosecution is seeking 2-1/2 years’ prison for Rubiales, although in Spain those handed sentences under two years can usually escape incarceration by paying damages instead if they do not have prior convictions.
The scandal sparked a strike by Hermoso’s teammates and saw several heads roll at the federation, with Rubiales’s right-hand man and successor also being ousted and a woman being appointed to coach the women’s team for the first time.
(Reporting by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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