Berliner Tageblatt - Rubiales to appeal fine for Hermoso forced kiss

After a keenly awaited trial that gripped the country, Spain's top criminal court in February found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for the kiss at the 2023 Women's World Cup that generated global outrage.

The Audiencia Nacional also cleared him of a separate accusation of coercion for allegedly forcing Hermoso to downplay the incident afterwards.

Both parties contested the sentence, which fell short of the two and a half year prison term sought by prosecutors and infuriated feminist groups that condemned the punishment as too lenient.

Rubiales maintained the kiss was a consensual "peck" between friends celebrating during the medal ceremony after star forward Hermoso had just helped Spain beat England in the final in Sydney, denying any coercion.

The court said in a statement on Wednesday that it had rejected the appeals of the defence team and the prosecutors, maintaining the conviction and the fine.

"The kiss was not consensual" and Hermoso "expressed her displeasure with what happened, as she herself confirmed in the trial, as well as her teammates", the court wrote.

"It cannot be said that a kiss in those circumstances was frequent or common or usual."

It also confirmed that Rubiales, former women's national team manager Jorge Vilda and two former senior federation officials, Albert Luque and Ruben Rivera, were cleared of the coercion charge.

Rubiales's lawyer Olga Tubau told AFP that he would appeal the verdict at the Supreme Court.

- Football federation in turmoil -

A separate request by the prosecutors to rerun the trial, notably due to doubts over the judge's impartiality, was dismissed.

The court also maintained a ban on Rubiales from going within a 200-metre radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for one year.

The kiss sparked a global uproar that forced Rubiales to relinquish his post, saw him banned from all football-related activity for three years and plunged the federation into a prolonged period of turmoil.

The affair made Hermoso, the all-time top scorer for the national women's team, an icon of the fight against sexism and macho culture in sport.

Rubiales is also embroiled in an investigation into alleged financial irregularities totalling millions of euros related to the Spanish Super Cup's relocation to Saudi Arabia, which involved a company owned by Barcelona great Gerard Pique.

Rubiales has dismissed the allegations as "falsehoods".

T.Bondarenko--BTB