Jenni Hermoso reveals death threats over Luis Rubiales World Cup final kiss that 'stained one of the happiest days of her life' as Spain legend testifies against disgraced federation chief in sexual assault case

Disgraced former Spanish Football Federation president Rubiales planted a kiss onto the lips of Hermoso during the medal ceremony which followed Spain’s 1-0 win over England in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final. Rubiales is now standing trial in Madrid on accusations of sexual assault and coercion.

Hermoso was the first witness called at that trial and said of the incident was entirely non-consensual: “My boss was kissing me, and this shouldn't happen in any social or work setting. I greeted the queen, I greeted her daughter. The next thing was meeting Rubiales. The next thing he did was to grab me by the ears and kiss me on the mouth.”

Hermoso says that she "didn’t hear or understand anything" that Rubiales said at the time and reiterated that "a kiss on the lips is only given when I decide so". She went on to reveal that "no-one came to ask me how I was" after the kiss and that she felt "completely abandoned by the federation".

Hermoso continued to celebrate "the greatest achievement” of her life after claiming a global crown, but soon realised that action needed to be taken. Rubiales asked her to record a video with him on the Spain squad’s journey home, having faced accusations of assault on social media, with Hermoso's response being: "I said no, that I was not going to do anything, that I was not the cause of this."

Hermoso, who is now playing her club football in Mexico for Tigres, says that she was forced to leave Madrid alongside her family after receiving death threats. Rubiales had spoken out against what he considered to be "fake feminism" before resigning from his post with the RFEF.

Prosecutors are calling for 47-year-old Rubiales to be handed a one-year prison sentence for sexual assault. They are also pushing for 18-months of jail time on the count of coercion, with Hermoso allegedly pressured into making a public statement in which she would say that the kiss was consensual. Rubiales denies all the charges.