Luis Rubiales sees appeals over sexual assault verdict rejected after Jenni Hermoso kiss scandal that overshadowed Spain's 2023 World Cup triumph

After Spain had defeated England in the final, Rubiales kissed Hermoso during the medal ceremony, with the legendary forward insisting afterwards that it was done without her consent. The former Spanish football chief was subsequently found guilty of sexually assaulting the 35-year-old, and was ordered to pay over €10,000 in fines. He appealed the decision, but his country's high court has now upheld their verdict.

The court once again made clear that Rubiales kissed Hermoso without her consent. His defence claimed that he was overcome with emotion after Spain's triumph, but the court pointed out that he was consistently restrained with Spain's other players, as well as the other individuals on the podium, and ruled he could well have been equally as restrained with Hermoso, had he wished to be.

PerReuters, the court said: "Since that emotion did not lead him to express his joy so effusively by kissing the other players or the accompanying persons in the box, and he restrained himself, he could also have done so, without too much effort, with the captain of the team."

Rubiales' career has almost certainly ended in disgrace. Hermoso, by comparison, continues to play and is on the books of Tigres UANL in Mexico, although she has been left out of Spain's Euro 2025 squad.