Former football boss accused of sexual assault
Former president of the Spanish football federation Luis Rubiales leaving the court of San Fernando de Henares, east of Madrid, on February 13th, 2025. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty ImagesAlmost exactly 18 months ago the Spanish women’s football team lifted the World Cup in Sydney. But one brief, controversial episode during the ensuing celebrations triggered street protests, fuelled political debate and, finally, led to criminal charges and a court case that has just finished.
Meanwhile, as a campaign gathered pace, both online and on the streets, for Rubiales to resign the row utterly overshadowed the achievement of the Spanish women’s team. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez said the case showed that “in our country there is still a long way to go when it comes to equality and respect between women and men”.
As the trial has unfolded the events in question have been revisited in painstaking detail in court. One expert witness was a lip reader, who interpreted Rubiales’s words from a video recorded moments before he kissed Hermoso. According to the expert, the then-federation president had asked: “Can I give you a kiss?” However, the player’s response was not on film.
“I behaved like an athlete celebrating a victory and should have behaved more according to my institutional role,” a contrite Rubiales told the court of his actions as the game ended. “I was wrong.”
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