27 mrt 2024 om 15:53 Update: 45 min. geleden
The Spanish Public Prosecution Service has demanded a prison sentence of 2.5 years against Luis Rubiales for his much-discussed kiss to player Jennifer Hermoso. The former president of the Spanish Football Association is suspected of coercion.
Research and witness interviews previously showed that the controversial kiss that Rubiales gave Spanish player Hermoso on the mouth during the World Cup medal ceremony on August 20 was “non-consensual”.
Spanish justice previously reported that it would prosecute Rubiales for the kiss under duress. The Public Prosecution Service is also prosecuting Rubiales for the pressure he allegedly placed on Hermoso and her loved ones, by stating that the kiss took place with mutual consent.
The Spanish Public Prosecution Service sent its “provisional conclusions” to the court on Monday. In addition to a prison sentence, the prosecutor demands that Rubiales is not allowed to work in the sports sector during his sentence, is not allowed to come within 200 meters of Hermoso for the next four years and pays compensation of 100,000 euros to Hermoso.
The 46-year-old Rubiales was president of the Spanish Football Association until September last year. In the aftermath of the scandal, he was suspended by FIFA and the Spanish Court of Arbitration for Sport and had to resign as president of the Spanish association.
Last week, Spanish justice issued an arrest warrant for Rubiales. The Spaniard is suspected of having committed fraud during his time as president of the Spanish Football Federation. That suspicion is separate from the current demand of the Public Prosecution Service.
Rubiales is currently in the Dominican Republic. Spain does not have an extradition treaty with that country. Nevertheless, according to Spanish media, justice expects that the former chairman of the Spanish association will voluntarily return to Spain.
Prison sentence also demanded against former national coach
The Spanish Public Prosecution Service also demands a year and a half in prison for three other officials: former national coach Jorge Vilda, former technical director Albert Luque and Rubén Rivera, who was responsible for the marketing of the Spanish Football Association.
They allegedly pressured Hermoso to say in a video that the kiss had been given with her consent. The attacker of the Mexican Tigres UANL has always denied this.
