Former Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales has claimed that nobody really believes Spain international Jenni Hermoso when she says his kissing her on the lips was not consented during the World Cup final celebrations last year.
During an interview with El Espanol, Rubiales stuck to his story that she said ‘OK’ to him kissing her on the podium. Rubiales could face in excess of six years in prison if he is found guilty of sexual assault and coercion, which he is currently on trial for.
“On the street everyone is with me, especially the women,” he claimed, amongst many eyebrow-raising statements.
Rubiales said that FIFA’s three-year ban imposed upon him was down to a trio of people within the organisation that did not like him. Equally, he felt the Government changed their story due to the media reaction. Rubiales told El Espanol that he was giving the interview to them because they were not funded by La Liga or ‘certain institutions’ that wished him ill, before declaring he no longer had any faith in the media at all.
“I believe that there is no-one who believes that what happened was a sexual assault and there is no one, really, who believes Jenni Hermoso because she said what she said and then changed her mind,” Rubiales said, despite over 70 Spanish players signing a statement claiming the opposite.
In his mind, Hermoso was damaging feminism by starting a witchhunt.
“I just asked her and she said yes. She told me okay. Jenni Hermoso was my friend. The thing is that Jenni Hermoso, in previous years, asked me for things [about the National Team: pitches, concentrations, etc.]. With language like: “F***, Rubiales…”. That’s how she spoke to me. And she, as soon as she finished and spontaneously, spoke to the media and told the truth at that moment. So what is feminism or what is equality for Jenni Hermoso and for some people? Changing your mind? Lying? Because that’s what has happened.”
He also says his daughters heard Hermoso say that it was not a big deal after the event, although they were not called to the witness stand during the trial.
“She knows she’s lying, I know it and my daughters who accompanied me know it and who heard Jenni say: “Leave me be, he’s a friend, it was a peck between two friends.” That’s what my daughters heard.”
It should be noted that videos and images of Hermoso were leaked to El Espanol that showed Rubiales in a better light. It was later claimed by multiple sources that there that the video was edited and clipped to do just that, and did not represent the reality of the scene. El Espanol have consistently taken a kinder line with Rubiales than the vast majority of outlets over the course of the piece.
