Jenni Hermoso's Spanish team-mates claim she was "mad" and "upset" after Luis Rubiales kissed her following their World Cup triumph, a court heard.
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Rubiales kissed Hermoso after World Cup winForward was "upset" during celebrationsSpain team-mates testify against ex-presidentFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Spain team-mates Alexia Putellas, Irena Paredes, and Laia Codina testified against former Spanish Football Federation president Rubiales on Thursday, after he kissed the forward in the wake of their country's 2023 World Cup triumph. Barcelona's Paredes said Hermoso "cried" during their World Cup celebrations and 2021 and 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Putellas added she was "mad" about Rubiales' remarks in the aftermath.
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Paredes said in court: “Jenni was worried, she was upset. She cried as she told us what was happening because it was becoming too much for her when all she wanted to do was celebrate what we had achieved.”
Putellas said of Rubiales: “She said how he wouldn’t stop telling her his version of the events and asking her to come out and say that she had consented to the kiss, that she should do it for his daughters. She was mad. She said she told him that he didn’t have to tell her what happened because she had been there, that she was not going to appear with him [in a video] and to leave her alone.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Rubiales is accused of sexual assault and attempting to coerce Hermoso, along with three other former officials, into publically saying the kiss was consensual. Prosecutors, Hermoso, and the Spain players' association reportedly want Rubiales jailed for two and a half years, fined £42,000 (€50,000) for damages, and banned from working as a sports official.
AFPWHAT NEXT?
Judge Jose Manuel Fernandez Prieto reportedly said if the trial goes according to schedule, Rubiales and the three other defenders will take the stand on February 11 and the case could finish a day later.
