Luis Rubiales may face 2.5 years in jail over World Cup kiss

Prosecutors in Spain on Wednesday demanded a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for the former Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales over his infamous World Cup kiss.

Rubiales faces charges of sexual assault and coercion in the case of the non-consensual kiss he gave to the player Jenni Hermoso after the tournament final in Sydney last August.

What the prosecutor’s office said

In a document sent to Spain’s Audiencia Nacional, the prosecution noted that Rubiales had held the player’s head. Then, it said, “With both hands and in a surprising manner and without the player’s consent or acceptance, he gave a kiss on the lips.”

Rubiales is accused of coercion for having pressured the athlete to “justify and approve the kiss that she had received against her will,”

“Given the personal and professional consequences that could result,” the prosecutor’s office noted, Rubiales could exert “constant and repeated acts of pressure” on Hermoso.

These, it said, prevented the latter from “developing her life in peace, tranquillity and freely.”

In addition to the jail term, prosecutors also want Rubiales to pay at least €50,000 ($54,000) in compensation to Hermoso.

Prosecutors demanded that Rubiales be specifically disqualified from working in the sports field during the time of his sentence.

It also called for him to be placed on supervised release for 2 years and to be prohibited from communicating with Hermoso and approaching her within a radius of 200 meters (about 650 feet) for four years.

The prosecutor’s office also requested a sentence of one and a half years in prison for coercion for the former coach of the women’s team Jorge Vilda; for the former marketing director of the federation Ruben Rivera; and for the director of the men’s team, Albert Luque.

Rubiales is also being investigated in a separate probe into corruption regarding RFEF contracts, such as the transfer of the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.