Luis Rubiales to testify in Spanish court over non-consensual World Cup kiss

Luis Rubiales will testify before a Spanish court on Friday about the non-consensual kiss he initiated with soccer player Jennifer Hermoso following Spain’s Women’s World Cup final victory.

Rubiales, the former head of Spain’s soccer federation resigned Sunday after weeks of heavy criticism. His actions are now at the center of a legal complaint filed by Hermoso, accusing him of “crimes of sexual assault and coercion,” CNN reported.

Hermoso says the kiss left her feeling “vulnerable and like the victim of an assault.” She added that there was “no type of consent” on her end.

Rubiales has maintained a defiant stance, claiming the kiss was consensual.

Over 80 Spanish soccer players, including the Women’s World Cup winners, signed a statement backing Hermoso and threatening to leave the national team “if the current leaders continue” to hold their positions.

In response, interim RFEF president Pedro Rocha fired the team’s head coach Jorge Vilda and replaced him with Montse Tomé, who now becomes the first woman to take over the job.

Rocha also promised Víctor Francos, the president of Spain’s High Council of Sport, that he would make more “structural changes” to the women’s team in the near future.