‘I felt like I was totally out of context. I knew that my boss was kissing me and this does not happen or shouldn’t happen’ – Jenni Hermoso 

In 2023, the FIFA Women’s World Cup descended upon New Zealand and Australia. The co-hosting countries were the first to have more than one host nation for the quadrennial international competition. Thirty two teams from across the world arrived to compete in the top tier stage for international soccer, with only one team able to take the prize.

This tournament included many firsts for FIFA. With more than one host country, they also had two federations from different confederations. New Zealand is in the Oceanian confederation and Australia is in the Asian confederation. It would also be the first year with the expanded format, accepting 32 teams versus the previous 24. It would be the first year the prize money would be doubled. 

The World Cup 2023 would also be the first time a federation president would sexually assault a player on international television. The Spanish Women’s National team (SWNT) would go onto the final round of the tournament, facing the English Women’s National team (EWNT). Spain won the tournament, 1-0, in a tournament that saw Spain dominate the pitch. 

In the celebration, the world witnessed Luis Rubiales, then president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and one of the vice presidents of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), kiss Jenni Hermoso on the mouth. The events only escalated from there when Rubiales refused to step down as federation president amidst crowds calling for his removal. In an emergency general assembly of the Spanish federation, Rubiales vehemently denied stepping down.

“I won’t resign” 

The crowd, overwhelmingly filled with men, applauded and cheered for Rubiales including the then head coach of the women’s team, Jorge Vilda.The situation escalated, with Rubiales’ own mother locking herself inside of the church of the Divine Shepherdess in Motril, Andalusia in August of 2023. She went on hunger strike to protest her son’s treatment post World Cup. She claimed her strike would continue until the “inhuman, bloodthirsty witch hunt which my son is being subjected to" was over. 

The same month, August 2023, Rubiales received a provisional 90-day suspension from all football related activities by FIFA. The dominoes had started to fall, with six members of the now former SWNT coach Jorge Vilda’s staff stepping down. All 23 players who won the World Cup with Spain, along with over 40 other players, vowed to not return to the national team if the current leadership didn’t change.

Finally, in September of 2023, Hermoso filed a criminal complaint against Rubiales. It was then, on September 11, 2023, that Luis Rubiales would resign as the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).  

"I have handed in my resignation to the acting president, Pedro Rocha, [...] I have also informed him that I have done the same with my position at UEFA, so that a replacement for my role as vice president can be sought. [...] After the suspension by FIFA, in addition to the rest of the proceedings against me, it is clear that I will not be able to return to my position.”

Days prior to the announcement, Jorge Vilda was fired by RFEF on September 5th, 2023. The RFEF released a statement regarding his firing.

“The Royal Spanish Football Federation, in one of the first renewal measures announced by President Pedro Rocha, has decided to part ways with Jorge Vilda's services as the sports director and head coach of the women's national team, a position he took on in 2015.”

“We highly value his impeccable personal and sporting conduct, as he has been a key figure in the significant growth of women's football in Spain. Throughout his extensive tenure, Vilda has been a promoter of respect and sportsmanship values in football.”

The statement goes on to praise his accomplishments, despite 15 senior players in 2022 refusing selection for international camp as well as refusing to attend the World Cup in 2023. The 15 players issued the same statement to RFEF 2022, vaguely touching on the issues that caused them to refuse, in a leaked email communication. 

“Due to the recent events that occurred at the national team and to the resulting state of affairs that followed, that you are well aware of, my emotional and health state have been significantly affected. As a result, I’m not currently in a position to be an eligible player until this situation is resolved.”

It would be confirmed by The Equalizer that RFEF had leaked the details of the emails. 

With Rubiales and Vilda out of the picture, the soccer world would see a new RFEF appointed head coach for the women’s national team. But the damage was already done, the monumental win by the Spanish team tainted.

In 2025, why does this matter? Why are we still talking about it?

At the start of the 2025 year, Hermoso’s trial against Rubiales began. She requested the judge keep her proceedings as private as possible, reiterating to the court that the kiss from the World Cup was non-consensual. 

Rubiales has been accused of sexual assault and coercion, with allegations that he tried to convince Hermoso to change her narrative around the kiss and to downplay the impact publicly. Several of Hermoso’s World Cup teammates will also testify, as well as coaches and federation officials. This includes Vilda, former RFEF sporting director Albert Luque, and RFEF’s former head of marketing Ruben Rivera. 

Testimonies took place in February of 2025, including the lawyer of Rubiales requesting an acquittal. 

"We are dealing with an expression of uncontrollable joy. Is this inappropriate behaviour? Yes. Criminal? No," said lawyer Ogla Tabau. The angle that Tabau and Rubiales have taken is that Rubiales asked to kiss Hermoso and she said okay, which Hermoso vehemently denies. In a video of the testimony, Rubiales calmy shared his story. 

“She squeezed me very hard under the armpits, lifted me up, and when I came back down, I asked her if I could give her a kiss and she said ok.” 

The lawyers for Rubiales also conjectured that the requests to downplay the kiss cannot be seen as coercion because there was no intent to pressure or threaten Hermoso into doing anything she didn’t want to do. Video footage from the World Cup celebration, where the incident occurred, shows Rubiales placing both hands on the side of Hermoso’s face and planting a kiss on her mouth. 

Hermoso provided testimony for two hours, sharing that she could not consent to anything because she couldn’t hear Rubiales with his hands over her ears. 

"And the next thing was with his hands on my ears and next, the kiss. I felt disrespected. I think it was a moment that tainted one of the happiest days of my life. It it very important to say that at no time did I seek that act and much less did I expect it,"

When questioned on how she behaved post-kiss, Hermoso explained that she was almost in auto-pilot.

“Well, I am in a protocol act, as I said, and I greeted everyone, I greeted the queen, I greeted her daughter, I greeted Luis Rubiales and I followed the protocol, which was to be a national team player. I went on my way, and it doesn't mean that I didn't feel that disgust or that rejection when I noticed or felt what had happened,” 

Prosecutor Marta Durántez Gil is seeking 2-1/2 years' prison for Rubiales as well as a fine of 50,000 euros for damages, and to be banned from working as a sports official. This includes charges for sexual assault and charges for coercion. The other defendants are accused of coercion, which includes a sentence of 1.5 years in prison. In Spain, if someone without a criminal record is sentenced to two years or less they will often not go to prison and be fined instead. Rubiales does not have a criminal record.

RFEF has claimed on September 18th, 2023 via press release that their goal is to keep players safe and regain trust of their players.

“It is evident that the Federation, society, and the players themselves are aligned with the same objective: the renewal and the beginning of a new phase where football is the main beneficiary of this entire process. Hence, players are urged to join this change led by the Federation, understanding that the ongoing transformations must be robust and fair. We guarantee a safe environment for the players and advocate for a climate of mutual trust so that we can work together and ensure that women's football continues to progress much stronger. We must begin to proudly display the star that the players have achieved with so much effort.” 

Hermoso stated in court in February 2025 that the federation and leadership is only interested in protecting their own reputation and not her safety. It influenced Hermoso’s move to play in Mexico.

“I had to leave Madrid with all my family because I noticed, and I say this from the bottom of my heart, because for a moment I was afraid to walk down the street and look around all the time to see if someone was chasing me. I received threats, death threats."

In an environment post-USWNT suing their federation in 2019, as well as the Me Too Movement, how do we end up here? On the world’s largest soccer stage, we saw a top scoring national team player being publicly assaulted by her boss for the world to witness. Women’s soccer has come a long way in the past 10 years alone, but clearly sexism and gender biases have yet to be eradicated.

Luis Rubiales was in a position of power over Jenni Hermoso and used that power to take what he wanted. About a third of women in the European Union who experienced sexual harassment experienced it while they were at work, says the European Union for Gender Equality. 

Jenni Hermoso had just had, by all means, the best day in the office she could have. She won a World Cup. She was sexually harassed at work and subsequently assaulted on the international stage for the world to witness. Nobody has a right to violate someone’s dignity, and Hermoso has made it clear that she felt disrespected and violated. 

The case has wrapped up closing arguments on February 14th, 2025. 

On February 20th, 2025 Luis Rubiales was fined more than €10,000 (roughly $10,400) for being found guilty of sexual assault for kissing Jenni Hermoso. Rubiales was acquitted of coercion. He will NOT go to prison. The courts banned Rubiales from going within 200 metres of Hermoso and from communicating with her for one year. He also was ordered to pay half of Hermoso's legal costs and an additional €3,000 for moral damages.

The three men also accused of coercion were acquitted.