The horizon of Luis Rubiales was further darkened this Wednesday. Jennifer Hermoso, kissed on the mouth by surprise by the suspended boss of Spanish football after the coronation of La Roja at the World Cup on August 20, filed a complaint.
The filing of this complaint was an essential condition for the prosecution, which had opened a preliminary investigation against Rubiales at the end of August for “sexual assault”, to be able to prosecute. These will now be able to be launched “as quickly as possible”, said the prosecution. Since a recent reform of the Spanish Penal Code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered as sexual assault, a criminal category grouping together any type of sexual violence.
Luis Rubiales’ forced kiss threw Spanish football into chaos and eclipsed La Roja Women’s maiden world title in Sydney. A few days later, despite the rain of condemnations and calls to leave, the head of the federation had refused to resign for “a little kiss”, denouncing “false feminism” and arguing that he had obtained authorization to the player before kissing her. A version denied by Jennifer Hermoso who said she felt “victim of an attack”.
Montsé Tomé, a pioneer
On Tuesday, the Spanish federation decided to sack the coach of the women’s team Jorge Vilda, a close friend of Luis Rubiales whose methods were criticized by his players, and to replace him with his former assistant, Montse Tomé, the first woman to occupy this post.