Jenni Hermoso breaks silence after Luis Rubiales punished for World Cup Final kiss
Spain international footballer Jenni Hermoso has spoken on social media following after Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales was found guilty of kissing her without her consent
Spain star Jenni Hermoso believes the ruling against the country's former football chief Luis Rubiales sets an "important precedent," but believes more needs to be done to fix the wider environment.
Rubiales was found guilty of kissing Hermoso without her consent after the Women's World Cup final in 2023. Spain's high court found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault in relation to the events after Spain's victory over England in the final.
The 47-year-old was ordered to pay Hermoso €10,000 (£8,274), while he has been banned from contacting her, or from coming within 200 metres of her. Rubiales was acquitted of a separate charge of coercion, relating to the events in the aftermath.
Hermoso told the court she had "never" given consent, adding that the moment had "stained one of the happiest days of my life". Now, she has shared her first post on social media since the verdict.
READ MORE: Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for kissing Spain World Cup winner Jenni HermosoREAD MORE: 'Anger aimed at Jenni Hermoso over Luis Rubiales kiss says everything about sexism today'"After all, this will set an important precedent in a social environment in which there is still much to be done," Hermoso wrote on Instagram. "My heart is full of every single person who has been, are and will continue to be with me in this fight. And now yes, it's over."
Earlier, she had told the court: "I didn't hear or understand anything. The next thing he did was to grab me by the ears and kiss me on the mouth. I knew I was being kissed by my boss and that should not happen in any social or work environment.
"I think it was a moment that stained one of the happiest days of my life," she added. "All this meant I couldn't enjoy at all being a world champion after I landed back in Madrid."
Rubiales resigned from his post with the Spanish FA in September 2023. The following month, he was handed a ban from football.
“He never kissed them [the players] on the mouth, except when it was Jennifer Hermoso’s turn," Judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto said of Rubiales. "After the hug he deliberately kissed her on the mouth, a change which the accused didn’t offer the slightest explanation for.
“The action of giving a woman a kiss on the mouth has a clear sexual connotation, and is not the normal way of greeting people you don’t have an emotional relationship with.
"Jenni Hermoso made it clear when she took the stand that in Spain, she gave people two kisses on the cheeks as is the custom here, while in Mexico where she plays football she only gives people one kiss in keeping with the tradition there, and never a kiss on the lips when there is no special affectionate relationship.”
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