Jenni Hermoso told the court on the first day of Luis Rubiales’ trial in Madrid that she received death threats after he kissed her following the end of the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.

Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF), is appearing at the Audencia Nacional court in Madrid charged with alleged sexual assault and coercion, both of which he denies.

Minutes after Spain won the World Cup against England on August 20, 2023, as the team were being given their winners’ medals, Hermoso was kissed by Rubiales. When asked by the prosecutor Marta Durantez, the Spain forward repeated in court that she did not consent to the kiss.

“He didn’t ask me if he could kiss me or not,” Hermoso said. “If he had asked me the question, I would not have agreed.

“I felt disrespected, it was a moment that tainted one of the happiest days of my life.”

In the days and weeks afterwards, the prosecution allege that the 47-year-old Rubiales and three other employees of the Spanish football federation — Albert Luque, Ruben Rivera and Carlos Vilda — coerced her into publicly supporting Rubiales’ version of events, and to say that the kiss was consensual. Luque, Rivera and Vilda are also charged with coercion and deny any wrongdoing.

Hermoso was the first person to testify in the trial on Monday and Spain’s record goalscorer described in detail the isolation and hurt she felt following the events in Sydney.

“From the first moment I set foot in Spain I had cameras all around me, outside my house, while I was having breakfast with my mother, they followed me, they took my photo,” said the 34-year-old, who was represented by Angel Chavarria. “I had to leave Madrid with all my people because for a moment I felt afraid in case someone was chasing me. I received death threats.”

She made it clear to the defendants’ lawyers that the threats were not made by any of the four accused.

“My life changed from that moment,” Hermoso said. “To this day, my life has been on standby and I haven’t been able to live freely.”

After the kiss, Hermoso returned to the dressing room and celebrated with her team-mates. When asked about these celebrations by Rubiales’ lawyer Olga Tubau, she said: “At that moment, when I’m celebrating being world champion, drinking alcohol and eating, I’m happy and smiling because it’s the greatest achievement I can get in my life.

“For me, it was important to be able to celebrate that moment, it didn’t fit in my head to be crying in a corner. I couldn’t bear the thought of myself or my team-mates crying.

“We had been preparing to be world champions for a long time and I wanted everyone to be able to celebrate it.

“The fact that I didn’t throw myself on the floor and cry doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have liked to.”

A specially chartered plane flew the players, coaches, family members and federation staff back to Madrid and it was during this flight, as the kiss was being condemned by people around the world, that Rubiales allegedly coerced Hermoso.

According to Hermoso, Rubiales wanted to record a video with her to smooth things over.

“There was a moment when I went to the bathroom and I ran into Luis Rubiales and he asked me to please help him, to make a video with him, that things were getting out of hand, that they were calling him a harasser,” she said.

“That I should help him by making a video and I said no, that I had not caused that moment. He asked me please to do it for his two daughters, that they were back there (on the plane) crying. I told him I was sorry but I wasn’t going to do it.

“He told me he had a girlfriend and that she didn’t think it was important. And what hurt me the most was when he said: ‘If you and I like the same things’ (a reference to Hermoso’s sexuality).

“When I told him I wasn’t going to do it, the next thing he said was that he was going to talk to my family.”

Hermoso said nobody from the RFEF came to see how she was coping — “not even Jorge Vilda (the World Cup-winning coach and one of the co-accused), whom we had known for a long time and had a good relationship with”.

“I felt completely unprotected by the RFEF. It was supposed to be my safe haven, I was a football player for their country. And no one asked me. They just came to save their reputation.”

“I felt absolutely alone at all times,” she said later on. “Whoever could have done a little more and helped me on the spot, which was the RFEF, did not do so and made me feel totally alone.”

After the tournament, some players went to Ibiza as a gift from the RFEF for winning the World Cup. It was there that Hermoso says she was harassed by Rivera, the marketing director, and Luque, the sporting director.

She says Rivera approached her during a meal and asked her to make a statement “to activate a protocol” that she did not understand.

“They were making me do something that I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. “I didn’t want to play down the matter.”

Then, she says, Luque arrived at the hotel wanting to talk to her but that she said no because she did not want to talk about Rubiales.

“Luque told me through a message to a friend that he wished me the worst in life for not having helped him get out of the biggest mess of his life with Rubiales; that I should never count on him again. I didn’t speak to Luque directly in person.”

After that trip, Hermoso returned to Mexico, where she was playing her club football at the time and has remained since. She currently plays for Tigres UANL.

Under mounting pressure, Rubiales eventually resigned as president of the Spanish football federation on September 10, 2023, after being provisionally suspended by FIFA, world football’s governing body — which later gave him a three-year ban.

The prosecutors are requesting a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for Rubiales, as well as €50,000 euros ($51,800) in compensation and for him to be banned from working as a sports official.

The judge will also hear evidence from Hermoso’s brother, Rafael, and team-mates from the national team. Rubiales’ daughters, Ana and Lucia, who attended the final and were on the flight home, are set to be called, too. From February 12, the four accused will be called to give evidence.

The trial continues.

Analysis

There was just one moment in her testimony when Hermoso appeared vulnerable. “If he speaks, I can’t,” the Spain striker said, referring to Rubiales’ exchanges with his lawyer while she was giving evidence.

Rubiales was seated to one side of Hermoso along with the three other defendants, Vilda, Luque and Rivera. Even so, Hermoso kept her poise as she detailed the impact of the events following the Women’s World Cup final. She spoke for almost three hours, giving her version of the kiss and its aftermath and answering questions from the defendants’ lawyers.

She was impressive in taking the stand against her former bosses. She explained how her celebrations after the final should not be confused with her feelings about Rubiales’ actions, saying, “I don’t need to be crying in a room… to show that I didn’t like what happened.”

It was a powerful start to a trial that is certain to grip an audience beyond just Spain for the next 13 days.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Barcelona, Spain, Premier League, International Football, La Liga, UK Women's Football

2025 The Athletic Media Company