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A Spanish court on Wednesday upheld the €10,800 fine imposed on Luis Rubiales, the former president of Spain’s football federation, for forcibly kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso—a ruling that has drawn criticism from women’s rights groups as being too lenient.
The Audiencia Nacional rejected appeals filed by both Rubiales’s legal team, who had sought an acquittal, and public prosecutors, who argued the offence merited a prison sentence.
Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault in February for kissing Hermoso during the medal ceremony at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final in Sydney, where Spain triumphed over England. He was, however, acquitted of coercion, a charge which alleged he had pressured Hermoso to publicly minimise the incident.
Throughout the trial, Rubiales insisted the kiss was a spontaneous and consensual gesture between friends celebrating a historic win, denying any wrongdoing or pressure on Hermoso.
Prosecutors had originally called for a two-and-a-half-year custodial sentence—one year for the sexual assault and 18 months for the coercion claim.
The court also confirmed that three others involved in the case—former women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda and federation officials Albert Luque and Rubén Rivera—were cleared of the coercion allegation.
A separate prosecutorial request for a retrial, citing concerns over the judge’s neutrality, was also dismissed.
Rubiales remains barred from approaching Hermoso within 200 metres or contacting her for a period of one year, as previously ordered by the court.
The incident, which sparked international outrage, ultimately led to Rubiales’s resignation, a three-year ban from all football-related activities, and deepened a crisis within Spanish football governance.
Hermoso, Spain’s record goalscorer, has since emerged as a symbol of the global movement against sexism and toxic masculinity in sport.
