Rubiales tells court Hermoso gave him consent for kiss after World Cup final win

Former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has reiterated before a judge that footballer Jenni Hermoso gave him consent for a kiss at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final presentation ceremony.

Rubiales is accused of sexual assault and coercion for allegedly trying to downplay the kiss that sparked outrage in Spain, and marred the celebrations of the team’s first World Cup title.

“I asked her if I could give her a little kiss and she said ‘OK’,” Rubiales said. “I’m totally sure (she gave consent.)”

Ms Hermoso said on the first day of the trial last week that she did not consent.

“Hermoso knows that I asked her and she contested me,” Rubiales said. “I apologised for my behaviour because it was not adequate. Being in that position I should have had cold blood and not let myself be taken away by emotions. Surely I should have behaved more in an institutional plan.”

Rubiales said Ms Hermoso was asked to downplay the kiss because there was an institutional crisis affecting the federation and it was normal for officials to try to diffuse the situation. He said he never asked anyone to pressure Ms Hermoso.

He said Ms Hermoso at the time was not making a big deal about the kiss.

Rubiales said that when she said she did not want to record a video with him, they accepted the decision and took different actions, which included releasing a statement with Ms Hermoso’s comments to local media at the time.

Ms Hermoso and her teammates gave different versions during their testimony, saying that the player was badly affected by the kiss and pressured to downplay what happened.

Videos were shown with Ms Hermoso celebrating and later talking about the kiss.

“Nobody expected it, but I don’t care, we are world champions, that’s what matters,” Ms Hermoso said in audio reproduced in court from an interview she gave shortly after the final.

“I didn’t like it, but all I can say is that it was part of the moment, it won’t become nothing more than that, it will go down as an anecdote.

“Whoever wants to make a big deal about it will do it, and those who don’t, won’t,” she said after the reporter told her that there was a lot of talk about the kiss back in Spain. “I’m very sure that it won’t become a big deal, we are the champions.”

The court was also shown a video of Rubiales telling the squad that he was “sad” about the repercussions from the kiss. He apologised and said that he “felt bad” it marred the celebrations. Ms Hermoso was seen in the video laughing normally after his words.

The defence showed an interview with Ms Hermoso’s brother himself downplaying the kiss. He had said in his own testimony that he downplayed the kiss at the time to make sure the focus was about the celebrations.

Rubiales resigned under pressure three weeks after the scandal surfaced and was banned by Fifa for three years. He had said he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by “false feminists”.

Ms Hermoso testified that she “felt disrespected” by Rubiales after winning the World Cup. She said that the kiss “stained one of the happiest days of my life”.