Spain's ex-soccer chief Luis Rubiales convicted of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso
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Spain: Ex-Soccer Boss Found Guilty of Sexual Assault Over World Cup Kiss
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Above: Former president of the Spanish football federation Luis Rubiales surrounded by media as he leaves court in east Madrid, Spain on Feb. 11, 2025. Image copyright: Oscar Del Pozo/AFP/Contributor via Getty Images
The Facts
Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, was on Thursday found guilty of sexually assaulting national-team player Jenni Hermoso after forcibly kissing her on the lips after Spain's Women's World Cup win in 2023.
After defeating England 1-0 in the final of the tournament in Sydney, the kiss overshadowed Spain's first time winning the women's title and sparked heated debate about sexism in sports. It "stained one of the happiest days of my life," Hermoso said on the stand.
While Rubiales, 47, would go on to express regret over the incident, he insisted the kiss was consensual and maintained it should not be considered sexual assault. "In that moment it was something completely spontaneous," he told the court.
The Spin
Narrative A
While this sentence was short of the jail time asked for by prosecutors, and despite the fact that Rubiales and three other men were not found guilty of coercion over the pressure campaign, the man at the heart of this scandal was found guilty of sexual assault. This ruling will have a significant and positive impact on Spanish football specifically, and Spanish society at large.
Narrative B
More than 18 months since the actions of Rubiales stole the thunder of the Spanish women's national team and their World Cup win, it's not clear whether Rubiales' sentence and guilty verdict provides the justice female players were searching for. A historic female sporting victory was dwarfed by discourse centered on a man, and all these conversations only go toward encouraging a climate of fear around women's safety, rather than celebrating female acheivement.
Narrative C
Rubiales' kiss was a spontaneous gesture of celebration during a moment of national triumph, occurring without bad faith in a time of maximum jubilation. The incident was blown out of proportion amidst cultural and political posturing, and became a witch hunt against Rubiales.
