SPAIN’S ex-footie chief is set to face trial over his World Cup kiss scandal.
A judge ruled yesterday there was “solid evidence” the kiss Luis Rubiales, 46, gave Jenni Hermoso, 33, was “not consensual”.
Rubiales grabbed the striker’s head and kissed her after Spain’s World Cup win over England in Australia last year.
Ms Hermoso later filed a criminal complaint.
A Madrid judge heard evidence to decide if the former president of Spain’s football federation should be tried for sexual assault and coercion.
Mr de Jorge, who has already quizzed the former football boss and his alleged victim separately in closed sessions at Spain’s centralised Audiencia Nacional court, said in a five-page ruling made public today: “The investigation has revealed the existence of solid evidence the kiss Luis Manuel Rubiales Bejar gave the player Jennifer Hermoso was not consensual and was a unilateral and surprise initiative on his part.
“Whether there was no any erotic intention or it was a result of the state of euphoria and excitement experienced as a consequence of the extraordinary sporting triumph preceding it is something that should be valued in a public trial.”
Rubiales, facing up to four years in jail, denies criminal wrongdoing.
Ms Hermoso’s former coach Jorge Vilda, FA marketing manager Rubén Rivera and sports director of the men’s team Albert Luque also now face trial accused of pressuring her to say the kiss had been consensual.
