Luis Rubiales: Former Spanish soccer coach denies sexual assault, says Kiss is only being questioned because he is a man

CNN
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A disgraced former Spanish soccer coach has denied sexually assaulting the women's national team's star player after last year's World Cup victory, including an unwanted kiss, and accused her of sexually assaulting him simply because he was a man. He suggested that he was being interrogated.

In a television interview aired on Wednesday, former Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales also claimed that forward Jennifer Hermoso had agreed to kiss him at the medal ceremony, but the medal ceremony was completely canceled. It was broadcast to the world and cast a shadow over Spain's historic first Women's World Cup victory.

According to an indictment obtained by CNN, Spanish prosecutors are seeking a sentence of two and a half years in prison after formally accusing Rubiales of sexual assault. [her] agreement or acceptance. ” He denies the charges.

“For me there is no crime,” Rubiales told television station La Sexta. “This is my opinion, my humble opinion, and I experienced it too.”

Mr. Rubiales had previously apologized for the kiss, telling La Sexta that there was nothing sexual in his actions, and asked Hermoso for consent, to which Hermoso responded with “vale” (Spanish). He claimed that he answered “OK'' (meaning “OK'' in Japanese).

“Vail, so we poked each other…that's my version,” he said.

“I really don't understand how anyone could look at the image and think it was sexual assault.”

Mr. Rubiales also claimed that he was being questioned about the incident because he is a man.

“Anyone, you, any person, can be questioned… What you (the media) want to do is restrict freedom of thought… Many media outlets want to restrict freedom of thought. ” he claimed.

CNN has reached out to Hermoso and RFEF for comment.

Mr. Hermoso previously said he did not agree with Mr. Rubiales and did not respect him.

“I had to live with the consequences of an act that I didn't cause, that I didn't choose, that I didn't plan,” she said in an interview with GQ Spain last November. “I've been threatened before, and that's something you never get used to.”

Rubiales resigned from his position at the RFEF in September last year following intense public backlash over the kiss, and was banned from all football-related activities by the sport's world governing body FIFA for three years.

Rubiales was detained for questioning on Wednesday after arriving in Madrid on an international flight, according to Spain's Civil Guard, and media reports say this is part of an ongoing corruption investigation linked to his tenure as RFEF president. he suggested.

A Civil Guard spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Rubiales is being investigated in a separate investigation from the sexual assault charges, but declined to elaborate further, citing the court decision.

Rubiales was later released, according to the Civil Guard.