Last Friday night, Spain’s women’s team played their first game since Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault for kissing Jenni Hermoso after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
Spain came from 2-0 down against Belgium in Valencia with 20 minutes left to win a thrilling game 3-2. Hermoso was not involved, having again been left out of the squad by coach Montse Tome. But she was on the minds of many.
Today during Spain – Belgium. A woman and her daughter went to the match to give support to Jennifer Hermoso even if she was not in the call-up. pic.twitter.com/7jQnW530OW
— Laia Cervelló Herrero (@Laia_Cervello) February 21, 2025
A day earlier, judge Jose Manuel Clemente Fernandez-Prieto found Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), guilty of sexual assault and issued him with a fine of more than €10,000 (£8,300; $11,400) for the kiss on Hermoso as she received her World Cup winners’ medal. The judge found Rubiales and his three co-defendants — former women’s coach Jorge Vilda, ex-Spain men’s team sporting director Albert Luque and former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) marketing director Ruben Rivera — not guilty of coercion for their efforts to persuade Hermoso to publicly say she had consented to the kiss….
