Former Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales was found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting player Jenni Hermoso for kissing her after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, an incident that overshadowed Spain’s first world title in women’s soccer and sparked debate about sexism in the sport. TIME Senior Sports Correspondent Sean Gregory explains.
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00:00In the summer of 2023, the behavior of Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales outraged the world
00:06as his unsolicited kiss of Spanish soccer star Jenny Hermoso after the 2023 World Cup final
00:13totally overshadowed Spain's historic victory. Rubiales resigned under pressure three weeks
00:19later. On Thursday, Spain's national court found Rubiales guilty of sexually assaulting Hermoso.
00:25He was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines and ordered to stay more than 200 meters away
00:31from Hermoso for the next year. Prosecutors want a prison time for Rubiales of up to two and a
00:36half years. Rubiales has always insisted that the kiss was consensual. He testified that he regretted
00:43the kiss, though he did not believe it constituted sexual assault. He could appeal this ruling.
00:48Hermoso testified that the incident, quote, stained one of the happiest moments of my life.
00:55I was kissing my boss and this does not happen or should not happen in any social and
01:02work environment. And at that moment I was still world champion, I ended up being
01:08world champion and it was a moment to continue enjoying, I was still drinking, I was still eating,
01:16I wanted to get drunk, I wanted to do what a footballer, a footballer does with such great joy
01:22Despite the closing of this ugly chapter in soccer history, those stains tend to last forever.