Prosecutors are asking Rubiales to be sentenced to one year in prison for the kissing charge and 18 months in prison for the extortion charge.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for disgraced former soccer star Luis Rubiales, who is on trial for kissing Spanish midfielder Jenni Hermoso on the lips against her will. Court documents revealed that.
Spanish media reported on Wednesday that in a document sent to Spain's Audiencia National Court, prosecutors said that Rubiales, who was charged with sexual assault and coercion, had at least five five-year charges against Hermoso. It said it was seeking compensation of 10,000 euros ($54,000).
The incident took place on August 20, when Spain defeated England to win the Women's World Cup final in Australia, when Rubiales put his hands on Hermoso's head and forcibly kissed her on the lips.
The kiss, which was broadcast live in front of cameras around the world, sparked widespread outrage and resulted in a suspension from FIFA.
At the time, Rubiales dismissed it as a “consensual” peck on the lips, but Hermoso, 33, said that was not the case.
Under Spanish law, kissing without consent can be classified as sexual assault, a criminal category that lumps together all types of sexual violence.
Rubiales “grabbed the athlete's head with both hands and, shockingly, kissed her on the lips without her consent or consent from the athlete,” prosecutors wrote.
After realizing that the kiss could have the “personal and professional consequences” of a suspension by FIFA on August 26, Rubiales and his aides told Hermoso that the kiss was consensual. He began applying “constant pressure” to “publicly justify” the situation.
The pressure left her feeling “anxious and extremely stressed” for several months, they wrote.
Prosecutors asked the 46-year-old to be sentenced to one year in prison for the kissing charge and 18 months in prison for the coercion charge.
Three former colleagues – former women's coach Jorge Bilda, men's team director Alberto Luque and Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) head of marketing Ruben Rivera – are also on trial for pressuring Hermoso. It's being put on.
Hermoso filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September, alleging he was pressured to defend Rubiales both on the flight home from Australia and later on a team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands. appealed to the government.
Additionally, she requested a restraining order prohibiting Mr. Rubiales from coming within 200 meters (656 feet) of Ms. Hermoso and from communicating with her for the next seven and a half years.
If convicted and sentenced as requested by prosecutors, Mr. Rubiales would not necessarily have to go to prison. Spain's penal code allows judges to suspend prison sentences “in exceptional circumstances” if none of the individual sentences imposed exceed two years, as in this case.
Rubiales was also named in a separate corruption investigation that rocked the RFEF last week, with police raiding the federation's headquarters and an apartment belonging to Rubiales and arresting seven people.
A judicial source told Reuters at the time that a Spanish court had ruled that RFEF had agreed with former Barcelona player Gerard Pique's company Cosmos to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. An investigation has been underway since June 2022 to determine whether Rubiales committed a crime of inappropriate management.
Rubiales, who was in the Dominican Republic during last week's raid, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and told El Espanol newspaper that he would cooperate with the investigation.
According to court officials, his lawyers told the judge that he would be returning from the Dominican Republic on April 6.
