Luis Rubiales goes on trial on Monday, accused of sexual assault, for kissing player Jenni Hermoso at the Women's World Cup final in 2023. The former president of Spain’s football federation denied any wrongdoing over the unsolicited kiss he planted while Spain was celebrating its victory against England and players received their medals. Rubiales, 47, grabbed Hermoso, 34, by the head and kissed her on the lips, which sparked widespread outrage.

He is accused of sexual assault as well as coercion after allegations he tried to force Hermoso into publicly declaring the kiss was consensual, though Hermoso insists it happened without her consent. Rubiales denies those charges. Following the uproar caused by the kiss, Rubiales resigned from his position in September 2023. A judge ruled that Rubiales’s kiss was “unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion”, the Associated Press reported.

Spanish prosecutors are seeking a prison term of two-and-a-half years although in Spain, if none of the sentences imposed individually exceed two years, those who receive them can usually avoid prison by paying damages – provided they have no previous convictions. The trial, expected to last at least 10 days, begins on Monday, when Hermoso is scheduled to take the stand at Madrid's High Court. Rubiales and his co-defendants will testify on or after February 12, once the court has interviewed the rest of the witnesses.

Former Spain women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda, former sports director of Spain’s men’s team Albert Luque, and the federation’s former head of marketing, Rubén Rivera, are due to appear in court. This is for allegedly pressuring Hermoso to defend Rubiales, something she refused to do. All of them also deny wrongdoing. Luis Rubiales is a former professional football player, and the former president of the RFEF and vice president of Uefa.

He was born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, to father Luis Manuel Rubiales Lopez, a primary school teacher, and mother Ángeles Béjar, a hairdresser. He grew up in the Motril region of Granada before starting his football career. He built his career at clubs like Guadix CF, RCD Mallorca B and Alicante CF, before making his debut in the Spanish top flight in 2004. In 2009, when he was 32 years old, Rubiales signed a one-year deal to join the Scottish Premier League team Hamilton Academical. However, he announced his retirement soon after and returned to Spain.

In March 2010, the footballer was elected to be the President of the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), a position he held until 2017. Then, in May 2018, he became the RFEF president, a position he has held ever since, until now. Recent years have seen corruption allegations being made against the former athlete, with the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial leaking documents and audio files that revealed conversations between Rubiales and footballer Gerard Pique.

In these files, named Supercopa Files, Rubiales is heard negotiating to pay Pique commissions in relation to the Supercopa de España in Saudi Arabia. He asked that he ensure Barcelona and Real Madrid were two of the participating teams in the event. August 2023 saw Spain take home the trophy after defeating the Lionesses in the Women’s World Cup. During the celebrations, Rubiales kissed Spain’s midfielder Jennifer Hermoso on the lips while presenting her with a medal. Hermoso later revealed that she hadn’t consented to the kiss.

Rubiales was also spotted grabbing his crotch during the game, while Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter were just metres away in the stands. Since the incident, the AFE released a statement saying that if he didn’t resign immediately, the association would demand that the Sports Law is applied against him. La Liga also filed a complaint with the High Sports Council asking for Rubiales to be disqualified. Meanwhile, Fifa opened disciplinary proceedings against him and football players across the globe begun to publicly criticise Rubiales.