EPATeammates of Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso have given testimony in help of her account of feeling overwhelmed after being allegedly forcibly kissed by Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales.
Her teammates Irene Paredes, Laia Codina, and Alexia Putellas appeared on the trial of Mr Rubiales at Nationwide Courtroom in Madrid in on Thursday, the place he’s accused of sexual assault and coercion.
Ms Putellas stated Ms Hermosa had felt “overwhelmed” after the incident, whereas Ms Codina stated she was “unhappy” and “not having fun with herself”.
Mr Rubiales kissed Ms Hermoso on the lips in the course of the 2023 FIFA Girls’s World Cup medal ceremony in Australia, triggering protests and requires his resignation. He denies any wrongdoing.
Jenni Hermoso informed the court docket on Monday that she had by no means given permission to be kissed on the World Cup medal ceremony and felt “disrespected” as a girl.
Ms Putellas stated she thought on the time that the incident had been one thing “fortuitous” and a “misunderstanding” however that later Ms Hermoso confirmed her a video and stated she didn’t know the way it occurred to Mr Rubiales to kiss her, in keeping with native Spanish media.
The court docket heard from Ms Paredes that whereas on the bus to Sydney airport after the World Cup remaining, she informed her teammates to cease making jokes in regards to the incident, saying it was “critical”.
Ms Putellas stated that Ms Hermoso was “overwhelmed” on the airplane again to Spain.
“She began crying from exhaustion,” the Barcelona participant added.
The 31-year-old stated Ms Hermoso was requested to talk to Mr Rubiales on the airplane and informed her that she ought to “come out” and “deny that there was no consent” within the kiss.
“She was offended and she or he stated that there was no want for him to elucidate the information to her as a result of she had skilled it, that she wasn’t going to do this,” Ms Putellas stated.
Ms Codina informed the trial that in the course of the crew celebration journey to the Spanish island of Ibiza, Ms Hermoso was “unhappy, she was not having fun with herself, removed from it” despite the fact that it “ought to have been the very best second” of her life.
Three colleagues of Mr Rubiales are additionally on trial, accused of colluding within the alleged coercion: Jorge Vilda, coach of the World Cup-winning facet, Rubén Rivera, the federation’s former head of selling, and former sporting director, Albert Luque. All of them deny the costs.
On Wednesday, the court docket heard that Mr Vilda spoke to Rafael Hermoso – brother of Jenni Hermoso – on the flight again to Spain, telling him that Mr Rubiales feared for his place, in keeping with native Spanish media.
Mr Vilda requested him to talk to his sister about her making a video with Ms Rubiales that might downplay the kiss.
The coach warned that his sister may face “skilled and private penalties” if she didn’t cooperate, Rafael Hermoso stated.
Talking in court docket on Monday, Ms Hermoso stated she and the then-president of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation hugged and celebrated on the soccer occasion, saying that he then grabbed her “by the ears and kiss[ed] me on the mouth”.
“I did not hear or perceive something,” she stated, including that “a kiss on the lips is just given after I resolve so”.
The footballer stated she felt “utterly deserted by the federation”.
Prosecutors are calling for Mr Rubiales to obtain a one-year jail sentence for sexual assault for the kiss. They’re additionally calling for him to be given a sentence of a year-and-a-half for coercion, for allegedly attempting to strain Ms Hermoso into saying publicly that the kiss was consensual. Rubiales denies the costs.
The trial continues.
