Unacceptable behavior
The Spanish public prosecutor’s office on Wednesday demanded a 2.5-year prison sentence against the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales. After winning the World Cup final last year, the man gave one of his players an unsolicited kiss on the mouth.
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 4:36 PM
In the case of the forced kiss to player Jennifer Hermoso, the Spanish public prosecutor’s office has demanded 2.5 years against the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales.
The ex-chairman gave player Hermoso an unexpected and unsolicited kiss on the mouth in August last year, after the World Cup final win against La Roja in Sydney. The unsolicited kiss, which was captured on camera and circulated around the world, caused an uproar in Spanish football and led to the resignation or ouster of several football executives, including Rubiales himself.
World Football Association Fifa suspended Rubiales for three years. The Spanish public prosecutor’s office is now demanding a prison sentence, not only for the kiss, but also because Rubiales pressured Hermoso to declare that the kiss was consensual.
The other demands of the public prosecutor’s office are: a ban on working in sports during his sentence, a ban on communicating with the player and the obligation to stay at least 2 meters away from her for the next four years.
The prosecutor is also asking for a year and six months in prison for the other suspects in the case: the sporting director of the Spanish national men’s team Albert Luque, the former coach of the Spanish national women’s team and current women’s coach of Morocco Jorge Vilda, and the former head of marketing of the RFEF, Rubén Rivera.
