Former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has lost his appeal against a sexual assault conviction stemming from his controversial kiss on Jenni Hermoso following Spain’s 2023 Women’s World Cup victory. A Spanish appeals court on Wednesday upheld the original ruling, confirming a €10,800 fine and a one-year restraining order, while rejecting both Rubiales’ challenge and prosecutors’ demands for a harsher sentence that included prison time.
The ruling, issued by Spain’s Audiencia Nacional, reaffirmed that the kiss was non-consensual and dismissed Rubiales’ long-standing claim that it was a “spontaneous act of affection.” The court emphasized that Hermoso objected to the kiss from the outset and found that Rubiales, who had exercised restraint with other players during the celebrations, could have done the same with her.
The incident occurred during the medal ceremony after Spain’s historic win in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final. As the team celebrated, Rubiales grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on the lips, a move that ignited global outrage and led to protests across Spain and beyond. The backlash forced Rubiales to step down from his position as RFEF president and sparked debates on sexism and abuse of power in sports.
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In her testimony during the initial trial, Hermoso described the kiss as unwanted and humiliating, saying it tainted what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life. The court sided with her account, stating that the kiss occurred without consent and that Rubiales had no justification for his actions.
While prosecutors had pushed for a retrial and additional charges of coercion, arguing that Rubiales pressured Hermoso into publicly downplaying the incident, the court rejected this claim due to lack of sufficient evidence. Rubiales has repeatedly denied pressuring the player and insisted that his intentions were misunderstood.
The court also upheld a previous decision that cleared three other former officials of the Spanish football federation of any wrongdoing. Coach Jorge Vilda, marketing executive Rubén Rivera, and sporting director Albert Luque had been accused of coercion but were found not guilty, a judgment that was reaffirmed in Wednesday’s appeal.
With this ruling, Rubiales’ legal avenues to overturn the conviction are narrowing, as public scrutiny continues to follow his fall from grace. What was once a moment of national pride for Spanish football has become a landmark case in the fight for accountability and respect for women in sports.
