The judge investigating the alleged coercion of national team player Jenni Hermoso as a result of the kiss given to her by the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, will take a statement this Thursday starting at 10:00 a.m. as witnesses to the coach. male, Luis de la Fuente, and the former Director of Communication of the RFEF Pablo García Cuervo.
The head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 1, Francisco de Jorge, will also hear as a witness this Thursday the deputy director of Communication of the RFEF, Enrique Yunta, in the framework of this case in which he is investigating alleged crimes of sexual assault and coercion of root of the kiss All of them will attend the court headquarters in person.
Already on November 14, the judge will take statements as witnesses from the psychologist of the women's team, Javier López Vallejo; to the former director of cabinet of Luis Rubiales, José María Timón; and the team's compliance officer, Javier Pujol. Two days later, he will also hear as witnesses from the soccer player Laia Codina and the president of the National Women's Soccer Committee, Rafael del Amo.
In addition, on November 16, a witness who witnessed the conversation between former coach Jorge Vilda and the brother of the player Rafael Hermoso on the plane returning to Spain from Australia after the World Cup will hear.
On the 30th of that same month, a confrontation will also be held between a friend of the player, Ana Belén Ecube, and the marketing director of the RFEF, Rubén Rivera, who appeared under investigation for possible coercion of the player.
Before the judge, Rubiales defended that the kiss was a "display of affection" that occurred "naturally", in the light of "millions of eyes" and that it was "with consent." When asked by Hermoso's lawyer, he asserted that it was a "totally extraordinary celebration," that he asked the player before kissing her and that it occurred "with consent."
"If I asked him before, how could I not respect him?", he responded to the question of whether he considered that he had respected the player by kissing her on the mouth, and then pointed out that after that episode Hermoso "left dying of laughter" and giving him "two slaps in the side."
However, in her statement before the Prosecutor's Office, revealed by the Telecinco program Código 10, Hermoso declared that the kiss was not consensual nor did she feel respected as a person and soccer player. "They were subjecting me to something that I never sought or did to find myself in that situation," she revealed.
