Luis Rubiales should stand trial over World Cup kiss says Spanish Judge

A Spanish Judge has proposed that the former Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales should stand trial after he kissed footballer Jenni Hermoso at the World Cup medal ceremony. Mr Rubiales, 46, grabbed the Spanish captain's head and kissed her during the presentation after her side beat England 1-0 in the final.

Hermoso then said the kiss "was not consensual" which is a statement Rubiales has denied. The 33-year-old then filed a criminal complaint against the ex-federation president and prosecutors charged the ex-UEFA vice-president with sexual assault and coercion with the penalties for such a kiss ranging from a fine to four years in prison.

A hearing has since taken place at the Audencia Nacional, Spain's High Court in Madrid, and the judge then described the kiss as "not consensual and... a unilateral and surprising initiative" deeming that there is enough evidence for the matter to proceed to trial.

The situation involved several Spanish football executives, including the former Spanish coach Jorge Vilda, former marketing manager Ruben Rivera and the former sports director of the men's team Albert Luque. All of whom have been accused of pressuring Ms Hermoso to publicly state that the kiss had been consensual. The aforementioned Judge has deemed that Vilda, Rivera and Luque should also stand on trial.

Following the proposal of a trial, the lawyers will now have ten days to make a formal trial request before the court.

Shortly after the initial incident, a statement was released in which Hermoso - Spain's top goal scorer - said the kiss had been consensual but she later claimed to have been pressured by the officials of the Spanish football federation to put her name to the statement. Mr Rubiales has continued to say the kiss was a "consensual peck" but the ensuing backlash forced him to resign form his position.

The former footballer attempted to fend off growing calls for his letter of resignation but the incident instigated a much broader conversation of sexism, not just within Spanish football, but within Spanish society in general with cries of 'se acabo' (it's over) being heard all over the country.