After resignation
Rubiales summoned in court in kissing scandal
Luis Rubiales was invited to a hearing at the Madrid Criminal Court. photo
© Rfef/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
After his resignation as president of the Spanish Football Association RFEF, the kissing scandal is far from over for Luis Rubiales.
After his resignation as president of the Spanish Football Association RFEF, the kissing scandal is over Luis Rubiales is far from over.
In the investigation initiated against him, the 46-year-old was summoned to an initial hearing at the State Court in Madrid, as the Spanish justice system announced. The examining judge Francisco De Jorge must decide whether Rubiales will be put in the dock for sexual aggression and coercion after the forced kiss on the mouth of world champion Jennifer Hermoso.
Hermoso filed a complaint
At the award ceremony after Spain’s final triumph over England in Sydney on August 20, Rubiales grabbed Hermoso’s head with both hands and kissed her on the mouth. This was done by mutual consent, he asserts. But Hermoso said she felt “like the victim of an impulsive, sexist and inappropriate act to which I did not consent.” The 33-year-old filed a complaint, thereby enabling the public prosecutor’s office to file a criminal complaint with the State Court.
Although the world association FIFA suspended him for 90 days shortly after the scandal and also initiated disciplinary proceedings against him, Rubiales refused for a long time to resign as many at home and abroad were calling for. But now he drew the consequences and gave up both his position as RFEF president and his vice-presidency in the European Football Union UEFA.