Trial of Spain's ex-football chief over forced kiss to begin

MADRID — 

Spain's erstwhile shot main Luis Rubiales goes connected proceedings connected Monday implicit the forced buss helium gave prima guardant Jenni Hermoso with the subordinate scheduled to instrumentality the stand.

The 47-year-old provoked worldwide outrage aft helium cupped Hermoso's caput and gave her an unsolicited buss aft Spain bushed England to triumph the 2023 Women's World Cup successful Australia.

Prosecutors are seeking 2 and a fractional years successful situation for Rubiales, 1 twelvemonth for intersexual battle for the forced buss and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso, 34, to downplay the incident.

The buss was fixed "unexpectedly and without the consent oregon acceptance of the player," prosecutors wrote successful their indictment.

"Constant and repeated unit was exerted straight connected the subordinate Jennifer Hermoso and done her household and friends with the purpose of justifying and publically approving the buss that Luis Rubiales gave her against her will," it added.

The highly anticipated proceedings gets underway astatine the National Court successful San Fernando de Henares adjacent Madrid astatine 10 a.m. and is expected to tally until Feb. 19.

Rubiales is scheduled to instrumentality the basal connected Feb. 12. He has called the buss an innocuous "peck betwixt friends celebrating" and denied immoderate coercion.

Among the accused alongside Rubiales are ex-women's nationalist squad manager Jorge Vilda and 2 erstwhile federation officials, Ruben Rivera and Albert Luque.

They besides basal accused of trying to coerce Hermoso with prosecutors seeking 18 months' jailhouse against them.

Historic occurrence overshadowed

The ungraded that rocked Spanish shot and wrecked Rubiales' vocation broke connected Aug. 20, 2023, moments aft the women's nationalist squad had clinched World Cup glory successful Sydney.

As Hermoso joined her teammates successful collecting their winner's medals, Rubiales clasped her caput and kissed her connected the lips earlier letting her spell with 2 slaps connected the back.

The enactment unleashed a nationalist outcry astatine what critics deemed an maltreatment of power. A caller betterment of the Spanish transgression codification classifies a non-consensual buss arsenic intersexual assault.

Rubiales, who was already nether probe for alleged corruption successful his relation arsenic federation head, yet gave into unit and stepped down successful September 2023, 2 days aft the commencement of a probe implicit the kiss. He had been federation main since 2018.

In a caller Netflix documentary titled "Se acabo" ("It's over"), which looks backmost astatine the players' choler aft the ungraded overshadowed their historical success, Hermoso revealed she cried pursuing the kiss.

Hermoso, the all-time apical scorer for the nationalist women's squad who present plays successful Mexico, said successful the documentary that the federation demanded she look successful a video wherever she would assertion Rubiales' buss "was nothing, it was... joy, euphoria."