Spanish prosecutor files charges against former football chief over kiss

OVIEDO, Spain

Spanish prosecutors on Friday officially filed a criminal complaint against the former head of Spain’s football federation Luis Rubiales for his unsolicited kiss of a female player.

The move comes after the player he kissed, Jennifer Hermoso, testified against her former boss. She said that he not only kissed her without her consent, but he pressured her and those close to her to say she wanted it.

Under Spain’s recently passed law on sexual consent, dubbed the “only yes means yes” law, any non-consensual sexual contact can be considered sexual aggression and prosecuted as a crime.

The case is now in front of Spain’s High Court. Prosecutors have urged the court to summon Rubiales as a defendant and to get in touch with Australian authorities, as the now-infamous kiss took place in Sydney, just after the Spanish women’s football team won the World Cup for the first time.

After some criticized Rubiales for kissing the winning player, he insisted that the kiss was “mutual.” After calls for his resignation, he angrily refused to step down. He said that Hermoso agreed to the kiss, went on a tirade against “false feminism,” and said men like him should also get credit for the women’s win.

After his bombshell speech, FIFA temporarily suspended him from his post and ordered him to avoid contacting Hermoso.

Hermoso also issued a public statement, saying she “felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out-of-place act without any consent on my part.”

If eventually charged with sexual aggression for the kiss, Rubiales could face a prison sentence of between one and four years. However, depending on the severity, it could also result in a fine.