Sports

Ex-Spain Football Boss In Court Over World Cup Kiss Scandal

Published

2 years ago

September 15, 2023

58 Views

Five days after resigning as Spain’s football chief, Luis Rubiales is due in court Friday on sexual assault charges over forcibly kissing women’s World Cup player Jenni Hermoso.

The 46-year-old has been summoned to Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional court at midday (1000 GMT) where he will appear before Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation.

At the hearing, which will be closed to the public, Rubiales will be questioned as a defendant in regards to allegations of “sexual assault”, a court statement said earlier this week.

Hermoso will also be called to testify at a later date.

The case comes barely four weeks after Rubiales sparked outrage when he forcibly kissed the midfielder in front of the world’s media after Spain defeated England in the final on August 20.

Rubiales, who was head of Spain’s RFEF football federation at the time, has repeatedly insisted the kiss was consensual.

Hermoso has said it was not and that it left her feeling like the “victim of an assault”.

De Jorge on Monday admitted a complaint against Rubiales filed the previous week by the public prosecutors’ office, citing alleged “offences of sexual assault” and “coercion”.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors said they had included the offence of coercion because of Hermoso’s statement in which she said “she and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

The global furore over the incident all but eclipsed the victory celebrations for Spain’s World Cup champions.

‘100% Non Sexual’

After three weeks of refusing to resign over the kiss, Rubiales, who was suspended by FIFA on August 26, stood down late on Sunday but continued to insist the kiss was consensual in a TV interview with Britain’s Piers Morgan.

“What we had is a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was driven by the emotion of the moment,” he said, describing the kiss as “100 percent non-sexual”.

The hearing comes with new coach Montse Tome, the first woman to lead the team, set to announce her squad on Friday for UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland on 22 and 26 September.

Her first job will be to try and convince the 23 world champions to don the red jersey again after they and dozens of others said they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

The players have not yet said what they will do following Rubiales’ resignation although the situation has changed since the RFEF sacked their controversial coach Jorge Vilda, named Tome in his stead and pledged further internal reforms.

“We have had discussions.. I don’t think there will be any problem,” Rafael del Amo, head of the RFEF’s women’s football committee told Cope radio on Tuesday.

“I think things will move forward.”

AFP

Related Topics:Court Football Kiss Scandal Rubiales

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Super Eagles vs Rwandan FIFA World Cup qualifying match on Saturday

Saturday’s showdown at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium comes five months and two weeks after the Super Eagles defeated the Amavubi 2-0 in the latter’s home ground in Kigali in a Matchday 5 encounter.

Published

5 days ago

September 1, 2025

OCHEFA

47 Views

• Super Eagles coach, Stanley Nwabali

Rwanda’s delegation to Saturday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria will arrive in Lagos on Tuesday afternoon.

This is even as injured Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, has assured top officials of both the NFF and the National Sports Commission (NSC) that he will be fully fit for Saturday’s 2026 World Cup showdown against Rwanda in Uyo.

Nigeria Football Federation’s Director of Communication, Dr Ademola Olajire, disclosed that a one-man Rwanda advance party will be in Lagos today but the full delegation will make landfall in the commercial capital on Tuesday aboard a Rwandair Airline flight at 1.15pm, and will proceed to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by 4pm of the same day.

Last week, Super Eagles No 1 goalkeeper Nwabali was stretchered off after he was injured while playing for his South African club Chippa United.

“He (Nwabali) has assured us he will be fit for the World Cup qualifiers against both Rwanda and South Africa,” a source told SCORENigeria.

“He spoke to NFF President (Ibrahim Gusau) and some other top officials in this regard,” the top football source said yesterday

Sports

Fenerbahce sacks head coach Mourinho

We have parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who served as head coach of our professional A team since the 2024-2025 season.

Published

1 week ago

August 29, 2025

OCHEFA

60 Views

•Jose Mourinho

Fenerbahce on Friday sacked Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, two days after elimination from the Champions League playoffs by Benfica, the Turkish club said in a statement.

“We have parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who served as head coach of our professional A team since the 2024-2025 season.

We thank him for his efforts for our team and wish him success in his future career,” it said.

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma coach who arrived at the Istanbul club in June 2024, led Istanbul’s Yellow Canaries to second place in the league last season behind Galatasaray, failing to end their title drought.

Sports

BREAKING: Champions League draw for 2025/2026 season confirmed [Full fixtures]

Published

1 week ago

August 28, 2025

Charles Flames

78 Views

The draw for the league phase for the 2025/2026 Champions League have been conducted on Thursday.

This year, the competition will continue to use the ‘Swiss-style’ league phase rather than the group stage to which fans had become accustomed.

That means that 36 teams will again take part in the competition.

Then the top eight sides will then qualify automatically for the knockout stages, while the teams that finish in ninth to 24th place will be drawn in a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition.

Teams ranked 25-36 are eliminated from all competitions.Here are some of the fixtures:

Bayern Munich will face Chelsea (H), PSG (A), Club Brugge (H), Arsenal (A), Sporting CP (H), PSV (A), Union SG (H), Pafos (A)Chelsea will play Barcelona (H), Bayern Munich (A), Benfica (H), Atalanta (A), Ajax (H), Napoli (A), Pafos (H), Qarabag (A)Real Madrid take on Manchester City (H), Liverpool (A), Juventus (H), Benfica (A), Marseille (H), Olympiacos (A), Monaco (H), Kairat Almaty (A).

Inter Milan have been drawn against Liverpool (H), Dortmund (A), Arsenal (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Salavia Praha (H), Ajax (A), Kairat Almaty, Union SGBorussia Dortmund will face Inter Milan (H), Manchester City, Villarreal, Juventus, Bodo/Glimt, Tottenham, Athletic Club, Copenhagen (A)Liverpool play Real Madrid (H), Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Frankfurt, PSV, Marseille, Qarabag, Galatasaray (A)

Barcelona take on PSG (H), Chelsea, Frankfurt, Club Brugge, Olympiacos, Slavia Praha, Copenhage, Newcastle (A).