Former Spanish Football Federation president, 46-year-old Luis Rubiales, will stand trial for kissing Jenni Hermoso, one of the players in the World Cup-winning squad, on the lips during the medal presentation ceremony.
Hermoso had earlier testified in court that she did not consent to the kiss. Rubiales was forced to resign following the incident.
The scandal overshadowed a historic moment for Spain’s women’s team, which at the time was celebrating its first-ever World Cup win on 20 August 2023.
Rubiales faces one count of sexual assault and one of coercion for his alleged actions in the aftermath of the kiss.
The offences carry prison terms of one year and eighteen months, respectively.
Spain’s High Court said it would also try the former coach of the women’s team, Jorge Vilda, the team’s current sporting director, Albert Luque, and the Spanish Football Federation’s head of marketing, Ruben Rivera.
All three are accused of coercing Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual.
Rubiales, 46, has strenuously denied wrongdoing, saying the kiss was consensual and he was the victim of a “social assassination.”
Rubiales faces one count of sexual assault, which carries a prison term of a year.
FIFA subsequently banned Rubiales from all football-related activities for three years last October.
The world football governing body said it had found he had breached Article 13 of its disciplinary code after kissing Hermoso.
The trial will be held at the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid. The date has not yet been confirmed.
The court has set bail of €65,000 (£55,900) for Rubiales’s charge of sexual assault to be paid within 24 hours to cover “any civil liabilities he may be ordered to pay,” AFP news agency reports.
A further bail of €65,000 is to be posted jointly between Rubiales, Vilda, Luque, and Rivera on the charges of coercion.
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