On day three of Luis Rubiales’ trial for the alleged sexual assault and coercion of Jenni Hermoso, her brother testified that the former Spain women’s coach Jorge Vilda had told him the player would face “personal and professional consequences” if she did not publicly agree with Rubiales’ version of the kiss.
Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), kissed the Spain player Hermoso as the team were being handed their winners’ medals after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final against England in Sydney on August 20, 2023. He maintains that the kiss was consensual.
The prosecution alleges that Rubiales, 47, and three other RFEF employees — Vilda, the former Newcastle United forward and ex-Spain sporting director Albert Luque, and former marketing director Ruben Rivera — coerced Hermoso into publicly supporting Rubiales’ version that the kiss had been consensual. Rubiales, Luque, Rivera and Vilda deny any wrongdoing.
On Monday, Hermoso testified she had not consented to the kiss and that she had refused to record a video saying she had no problem with it after Rubiales asked her to do so on their journey back to Spain.
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The Luis Rubiales trial explained: The kiss, the fallout, the accused and the key witnesses
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