Luis Rubiales appears in court today to face sexual assault charges for ‘forcibly’ kissing World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso

Five days after resigning as president of Spanish football, Luis Rubiales must appear in court today to face charges of sexual assault for forcibly kissing World Cup player Jenni Hermoso.

The 46-year-old man has been summoned before the National Court of Madrid at noon (10:00 GMT) where he will appear before Judge Francisco de Jorge, who is leading the investigation.

At the hearing, which will be closed to the public, Rubiales will be questioned as a defendant in connection with 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 just four weeks after Rubiales sparked outrage when he grabbed the midfielder and forcibly kissed her in front of horrified spectators after Spain defeated England 1-0 in the World Cup final on August 20. .

The 46-year-old man has been summoned before the National Court of Madrid at noon (10:00 GMT) where he will appear before Judge Francisco de Jorge, who is leading the investigation.

Rubiales, who at the time was president of the Spanish Football Federation, the RFEF, has repeatedly insisted that the kiss was consensual.

But Hermoso has said no and has left her feeling ‘a victim of aggression’.

This Monday, De Jorge admitted a complaint against Rubiales filed the previous week by the Prosecutor’s Office, alleging alleged “crimes of sexual assault” and “coercion.”

According to a recent reform of the Spanish Penal Code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category that encompasses all types of sexual violence.

If convicted, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, prosecutors have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors said they had included the crime of coercion due to Hermoso’s statement in which she said that “she and those close to her had suffered constant and continuous pressure from Luis Rubiales and her professional environment to justify and forgive” her actions. Actions.

The global furor over the incident virtually overshadowed the victory celebrations of Spain’s World Cup champions.

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

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Rubiales faces sexual assault charges for kissing Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips without consent after Spain’s 1-0 victory against England in the World Cup final on August 20.

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

He claimed the fury over the kiss stemmed from a misunderstanding of Latin culture and insisted he would have done the same thing to a male player.

Rubiales said: ‘We were both excited. We congratulated each other, I asked him “can I give you a quick kiss?” -which is normal in our country- I give him a quick kiss, I think he patted me on the side once or twice and that was it.

“No intention, of course, no sexual connotation or anything, just a moment of happiness, just great joy in that moment.”

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

Their first job will be to try to convince the 23 world champions to put on the red shirt 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 after Rubiales resigns, although the situation has changed since the RFEF fired their controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tomé in his place and promised more internal reforms.

“We have had conversations… I don’t think there is any problem,” Rafael del Amo, president of the RFEF women’s soccer committee, told Cope radio on Tuesday.

“I think things will move forward.”