スペイン連盟前会長のキス「いかなる環境でも」不適切　エルモソが証言

【サンフェルナンドデエナーレス（スペイン）ＡＦＰ＝時事】スペインサッカー連盟（ＲＦＥＦ）のルイス・ルビアレス前会長（４７）が同国女子代表のＭＦヘニフェル・エルモソ（３４）に無理やりキスをし、性的暴行などの罪に問われている事件の裁判が３日に始まった。証言を行ったエルモソは、キスを強要する行為は「いかなる社会的または職場環境でも起こってはならない」と述べた。（写真は、スペインサッカー連盟〈ＲＦＥＦ〉のルイス・ルビアレス前会長）
　スペインがイングランドを下して優勝した２０２３年女子Ｗ杯オーストラリア・ニュージーランド大会の表彰式で、ルビアレス氏はエルモソの頭を両手で押さえて唇に無理やりキスをし、世界中から激しい怒りを引き起こした。
　検察はルビアレス氏に対し、キスを強要した性的暴行の罪で１年、事件を軽くするためにエルモソに圧力をかけた脅迫の罪で１８月、合計禁錮２年半を求刑している。
　ルビアレス氏は、問題のキスについて「喜ぶ友人同士がする軽いキス」で無害なものだったと主張し、強制したことを否定している。
　一方、女子代表チームで歴代最多得点記録を誇るエルモソは、「女性として侮辱されたと感じた。人生で最も幸せな日の一つを汚された瞬間だった」と主張。大会後に帰国してから殺害予告や耐え難いメディアの圧力に直面し、その恐怖で家族とともにスペインを離れたと語った。現在はメキシコでプレーしている。
　裁判は１９日まで続き、ルビアレス氏は１２日に証言台に立つ予定となっている。
　この事件では、女子代表のホルヘ・ビルダ前監督に加え、ＲＦＥＦの元関係者であるルーベン・リベラ氏とアルベルト・ルケ氏も、エルモソに圧力をかけたとして訴追されており、検察がそれぞれ禁錮１８月を求刑している。
　ルビアレス氏は、事件に関する調査が開始された２日後に連盟トップを辞任した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/02/04-17:00）

Jenni Hermoso on Monday told the trial of Spain's former football chief Luis Rubiales that his forced kiss on her in 2023 shouldn't happen in any social or work setting.
Rubiales provoked worldwide outrage when he cupped Hermoso's head and gave her an unsolicited kiss after she helped Spain beat England in the 2023 Women's World Cup final in Australia.
Prosecutors are seeking two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault for the forced kiss and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso, 34, to downplay the incident.
Rubiales, 47, has called the kiss an innocuous peck between friends celebrating and denied any coercion.
This shouldn't happen in any social or work setting... A kiss on the lips is only given when I decide so, Hermoso said on the opening day of the trial at the National Court in San Fernando de Henares near Madrid.
As a woman I felt disrespected. It was a moment that stained one of the happiest days of my life, added Hermoso, the all-time top scorer for the national women's team.
At no point did I seek that act, let alone expect it, she said during more than two hours of testimony.
I don't have to be crying in a room or have thrown myself to the ground when the act happened to imply I didn't like it.
Rubiales is scheduled to take the stand on February 12 in the highly anticipated trial running until February 19.
Among the accused alongside Rubiales are ex-women's national team coach Jorge Vilda and two former federation officials, Ruben Rivera and Albert Luque.
They also stand accused of trying to coerce Hermoso with prosecutors seeking 18 months' jail against them.
- Life 'on stand by' -
Hermoso said Luque asked her to help resolve the biggest mess of Rubiales' life and that federation officials wanted her to release a video or a statement hushing up the incident on countless occasions.
Testifying after Hermoso, the federation's press chief Patricia Perez Requena told the court that the director of communications Pablo Garcia Cuervo said they had to stop the media noise as they left Australia.
A press statement was written to downplay the kiss in her name, Requena said, adding that a tired Hermoso read the text and said do what you want.
Hermoso later said she did not seek the kiss and asked why she had to keep doing this sort of things after the statement was drafted, said Requena.
Hermoso, who now plays in Mexico, said she faced death threats and insufferable media pressure after returning to Spain and left Madrid with her family due to the fear she felt.
Until today it feels like my life has been on stand by due to the case, she added.
The scandal has rocked Spanish football and made Hermoso an icon of the fight against macho culture and sexism in sport.
Rubiales, who was already under investigation for alleged corruption in his role as federation head, stepped down in September 2023, two days after the start of a probe over the kiss. He had been federation chief since 2018.
In a recent Netflix documentary titled Se acabo (It's over), which looks back at the players' anger after the scandal overshadowed their historic success, Hermoso revealed she cried following the kiss.
She told the court on Monday that no one came to ask me how I was after the incident and felt completely abandoned by the federation.
Men's national team manager Luis de la Fuente is among the witnesses due to speak on Tuesday.