The judge of the National Court Francisco de Jorge has summoned the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales to testify as under investigation next Friday, September 15, in the procedure opened for his kiss to the women's soccer player Jennifer Hermoso during the final of the last World Cup.
The instructor has made this decision just 24 hours after admitting to processing the complaint filed by the Prosecutor's Office for the alleged crimes of sexual assault and coercion.
The judge has agreed to this procedure in an order while waiting to receive a battery of documentation requested from various media outlets, consisting of videos at various angles of the moment of the kiss as well as the subsequent celebrations after winning the World Cup in Sydney (Australia).
It is also waiting for the Australian authorities to confirm whether this type of action is classified as a crime in its Penal Code. Since the event occurred abroad, the law requires that in order to be prosecuted it must be a crime in both jurisdictions.
Rubiales will have to appear on Friday at 12, along with his lawyer, to undergo interrogation by the judge, prosecutor, Hermoso's defense and his own. During his statement, he will be able to explain how the events occurred, from his perspective.
Regarding the kiss, he already explained the sequence during a press conference at the RFEF, in which he assured that he asked permission to give him "a little peck." Throughout these weeks, Rubiales has defended that the kiss was consensual and that it was a brotherly kiss like the one he would give to "his daughters."
Jenni Hermoso has denied her version, has denied that those words really occurred and she herself has maintained that she felt violated by what happened.
What is not yet known is what Rubiales will say regarding the other crime for which he has been accused, that of coercion of both the player and her family. As the soccer player explained during her voluntary statement before the Prosecutor's Office, both she and those closest to her suffered constant and repeated pressure from Luis Rubiales and his professional environment, to justify and approve the facts. The prosecutor considers that this harassment could constitute a crime of coercion.
