Disgraced Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales accuses Jenni Hermoso of LYING about their kiss and says he even asked her ‘for a peck’ at the World Cup final medal ceremony

Luis Rubiales continued to plead his innocence at Spain’s National Court amid an ongoing investigation into the ‘kiss-gate’ scandal that has torn through Spanish football, claiming Jenni Hermoso lied about not consenting to the kiss.

Rubiales eventually resigned as president of the Spanish FA (RFEF) on September 10, after receiving calls to do so since the Women’s World Cup final on August 20.

After Olga Carmona’s strike against England gave La Roja their first ever title, Hermoso was kissed on the lips by Rubiales as he presented the players with their medals.

In the immediate aftermath, Hermoso claimed there was no consensus on it, while Rubiales claimed the opposite, while the rest of the squad – as well as a number of other Spanish players – later signed a declaration that they would refuse to play for their country. unless certain infrastructural changes were made.

Despite initially refusing to do so, Rubiales resigned from his position and is now at the center of an investigation into his actions as Spain tries to recover from the scandal and move on. It is believed he spoke in his defense for almost 55 minutes.

The issue of consent was, of course, a major subject of questioning by the court, and after the judge continued to ask whether there was indeed consent for the kiss, Rubiales insisted that Hermoso was lying.

“She knows very well that she is not true,” he claimed, according to El ESPAÑOL newspaper, before adding that he had a conversation with Hermoso about the possible reaction afterwards.

‘There was a moment when I bumped into her because I was sitting in the front row and she was going to the toilet. Fifteen seconds, that’s all it would be. “Hey, Jenni, why don’t we both go out? Let’s put an end to this, because this is going to hurt me a lot.”

“No, look, President Rubi, I am passing, I want to enjoy the World Cup, I am not going to make any more statements. If I have already said it, he who wants to understand it must understand it, and he who does not want to understand it, shouldn’t understand.”

“Yes, yes, you have explained it and it has been clear, but we ask you, on the advice of those who know, that we go out together.” (She replies:) “I’m not going to do it.” That is it.’

Rubiales added that he had in fact asked for Hermoso’s permission before kissing her after the World Cup final, a request the player agreed to.

“During the medal ceremony, I hugged the players, the coach, when she passed by. She comes over to give me a hug. We hug each other, she picks me up and I make a gesture not to fall, all this with a conversation in which I remind her – because she had missed a penalty – to cheer up a little, that without her would not have been able to win the World Cup.

“She tells me I’m a crack (a slang expression in Spanish), thank you very much. And then I ask her: can I give you a kiss, a kiss? And she tells me it’s okay.

Rubiales was then asked by the prosecutor, “If the kiss was consensual, why did you respond by holding her head with your hands?”

Then he replied, “Well, out of joy. She grabs me wherever she can, I grab her too and that’s it. Two or three minutes later they all grabbed me and pulled me up, waving me.

“And at that point I’m not going to tell them not to touch me, excuse me, my butt, my knees or my shoulder. We won a World Cup and the enormous euphoria and joy there is indescribable.

“It happened like that because when you win the lottery or end a war, end the war in Ukraine or win a World Cup, well, that exuberance, that spontaneity….”

Hermoso’s attorney then asked if he thought he had shown her respect, to which the response was, “If I had asked her before, how can I disrespect her?” And she left laughing and hit me on the side twice.”

“How am I going to ask for forgiveness when we were both super happy?” And we hugged each other and then she came again and she kept me with others, and we were very happy with her life, if she did not attach any importance to it.’

Rubiales also argued that the kiss was initially received as “a meme,” but that the vast majority of people, who argued that instead of “forcibly taking someone into an office,” the fact that the kiss was in front of millions of people took place, shows that it is ‘natural’. ‘ for two people who have spent so much time together.

According to Spanish outlet El confidentialRubiales pressured an employee of RFEF’s communications department to testify that Hermoso had given her permission for the kiss.

Rubiales is also not allowed to contact Hermoso or be within 200 meters of her. General secretary Andreu Camps was also dismissed from his role in the aftermath of the events of the World Cup final.

After threatening a strike if no progress was made to protect the players in the future, the Spanish World Cup winners eventually returned to the starting line-up, although Hermoso was left out in an attempt to ‘protect’ her from a recent round of play.

It has been a period of tumult for the Spanish FA, which renamed the women’s team the Spanish Football Team after the RFEF unveiled a gender-neutral renaming of the squad following crucial talks with the players.

Former manager Jorge Vilda – who has been replaced by Montse Tome – has also been summoned to appear in court as an ‘investigated party’, along with two other federation officials.