Court upholds assault conviction for Spain's ex-soccer chief's World Cup kiss
MADRID — Spain's High Court on Wednesday, June 25, upheld a verdict that found former soccer federation president Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for an unsolicited kiss on the lips of national team player Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup in Sydney.
The court rejected multiple appeals against the conviction, reaffirming Rubiales kissed Hermoso without her consent during the medal ceremony after Spain's women had won the trophy, according to the ruling seen by Reuters.
Rubiales was fined over 10,000 euros ($11,592) and acquitted of coercion charges alongside three co-defendants. Prosecutors had sought a 2-1/2-year prison sentence and called for a retrial, both of which were dismissed.
The incident sparked widespread debate about sexism in Spanish society and women's football, fueling momentum for the "Me Too" movement in the country.
Rubiales argued that his actions were motivated by an uncontrollable joy, but the court ruled that his restraint with other players and attendees demonstrated he could have avoided such behaviour with Hermoso.
"Since that emotion did not lead him to express his joy so effusively by kissing the other players or the accompanying persons in the box, and he restrained himself, he could also have done so, without too much effort, with the captain of the team," the court said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Today in Sports - Brazil becomes the 1st team to win the World Cup outside its continent
June 29 1906 — Alex Smith shoots a record 295 to beat brother Willie in the U.S. Open. Alex shoots a 295 at Onwentsia Club Ill. 1933 — Primo Carnera knocks out Jack Sharkey in the sixth round at the Long Island City Bowl to win the world heavyweight title. 1947 — Betty Jameson wins the U.S. Women's Open by six strokes over amateurs Sally Sessions and Rolly Riley. 1952 — Louise Suggs beats Betty Jameson and Marlene Bauer by seven strokes to win the U.S. Women's Open. 1956 — Charles Dumas becomes the first high jumper to clear 7 feet, jumping 7 feet, 5-8 inches in the U.S. Olympic trials at Los Angeles. 1957 — Jackie Pung loses the U.S. Women's Open when she turns in an incorrect scorecard. Betsy Rawls is declared the winner. 1958 — Brazil, led by Pele, beats Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm to become the first team to win the World Cup outside its continent. The 17-year-old, coming off a hat-trick in Brazil's 5-2 semifinal victory over France, scores twice in the final. Pele's first and memorable goal comes in the 55th minute to put Brazil ahead 3-1. Pele controls the ball in the penalty area with his thigh, flips it over the head of the defender and smashes it past a helpless Kalle Svensson. Pele seals the win with a headed goal in stoppage time. 1969 — Donna Caponi beats Peggy Wilson by one stroke to win the U.S. Women's Open. 1984 — Montreal Expos infielder Pete Rose plays in record 3,309th MLB game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox. 1986 — Argentina withstands West Germany's comeback to win the World Cup, 3-2 in Mexico City's Aztec stadium. Argentina takes a 2-0 lead on Jorge Valdano's goal 10 minutes into the second half. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Rudi Voller score goals seven minutes apart to tie the game in the 81st minute. Four minutes later Jorge Burruchaga scores the game-winner after getting a superb pass from Diego Maradona. 1990 — Dave Stewart of the Oakland A's pitches the first of two no-hitters on this day, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0. Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers duplicates Stewart's feat, throwing a 6-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. It's the first time in major league history that two no-hitters are pitched in the two leagues on the same day. 1991 — Britain's Nick Brown scores a big upset at Wimbledon, beating 10th-seeded Goran Ivanisevic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the second round. Brown, at 591 the lowest-ranked player in the men's championship, posts the biggest upset, based on comparative rankings, since the ATP began compiling world rankings in 1973. 1994 — Martina Navratilova sets a Wimbledon record, playing her 266th career match. Navratilova passes Billie Jean King's record of 265 when she and Manon Bollegraf beat Ingelisa Driehuis and Maja Muric 6-4, 6-2 in a doubles quarterfinal. 1994 — NBA Draft: Purdue small forward Glenn Robinson first pick by Milwaukee Bucks. 1995 — George Foreman loses IBF boxing title for refusing to re-fight Axel Schulz. 2001 — Russian swimmer Roman Sludnov becomes the first person to swim the 100-meter breaststroke in under a minute, breaking a world record for the second time in two days at the national championships in Moscow. Sludnov finishes in 00:59.97. 2004 — Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks becomes the fourth pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts when he strikes out San Diego's Jeff Cirillo in the eighth inning of the Padres' 3-2 win. 2007 — After 16 years in Europe, the NFL shuts down its developmental league. 2008 — Two weeks away from her 20th birthday, Inbee Park becomes the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Open by closing with a 2-under 71. Her four-shot victory over Helen Alfredsson, who shot 75, is the largest in the Women's Open since Karrie Webb won by eight shots at Pine Needles in 2001. 2008 — UEFA European Championship Final, Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria: Fernando Torres scores as Spain beats Germany, 1-0. 2009 — Indoor tennis at Wimbledon. The new retractable roof over Centre Court is closed after rain halts play during a fourth-round match with Amelie Mauresmo leading top-ranked Dinara Safina, 6-4, 1-4. 2012 — The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency files formal charges against Lance Armstrong, accusing the seven-time Tour de France winner of using performance-enhancing drugs throughout the best years of his career. 2014 — Bernard Langer beats Jeff Sluman with a birdie on the 2nd playoff hole to win the Senior Players Championship at Fox Chapel GC. _____
CNN
3 hours ago
- CNN
The Sean ‘Diddy' Combs case shows ‘trialtainment' has evolved in the post-OJ Simpson era
Salacious details, discussion of domestic violence and a Black male celebrity who for decades had a strong base of supporters. While the alleged crimes are not the same, some of the cultural issues involved could describe the trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs in 2025, or that of O.J. Simpson in 1995. Simpson's case sparked an era of 'trialtainment,' with an abundance of viewers and readers following an exhaustive round-the-clock news cycle, absorbing every detail of the bombshell murder case. Thirty years later, as the world awaits a verdict in Combs' federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial, interest in celebrity court cases remains high, but public discourse around race and intimate partner violence has changed. 'I think a lot of women have evolved in terms of taking a stance that we can speak up. We are now just being comfortable with speaking up and this is as a result of the #MeToo movement,' legal analyst and entertainment law expert Lisa Bonner – who is not connected to either case – told CNN. Simpson, who died in April 2024 at the age of 76 following a battle with cancer, was accused of fatally stabbing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The star football player and actor was acquitted in 1995. Combs is facing allegations of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. The mogul and music artist has pleaded not guilty. Both men had well respected careers, amassed wealth and power and initially enjoyed the support of fans, especially in the Black community. 'One thing that is different in this case than it is for Diddy is all the Black people were on O.J.'s side,' Bonner said. 'It was on the heels of (the 1991 beating by Los Angeles Police Department officers of) Rodney King and all of the civil unrest that had gone on regarding the mistreatment of Black people, especially Black men.' Both Simpson and Combs were also accused of domestic violence and in the case of Combs, some of his support slipped after CNN last year published a hotel surveillance video of him physically assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, in 2016. Nicole Branca, chief executive officer of New Destiny Housing, a New York City nonprofit that provides housing and services to survivors of domestic violence and their children, said high-profile trials like these can be 'helpful to hold people accountable.' 'It's probably better that there's this much coverage because these are celebrities, these are people with a lot of money and a lot of attention and if (domestic violence is) happening to them, then maybe it makes it okay for people to speak out about their own experience,' she said. 'That's my hope. Do I know if that's happening? I don't, but the fact that people are more vocal about it these days and there are more laws being passed at the city, state, and federal level, makes me think that this contributes to that discourse.' Branca pointed to the New York City Council recently introducing a bill to train first responders in the detection of traumatic brain injuries – given that such injuries are common with domestic violence victims – as an indiction that authorities are taking the issue more seriously. Bonner, who has appeared on CNN to discuss the Combs case, said that while 'there's still a lot of victim shaming that goes on,' the cultural strides made in the past three decades likely made it easier for Ventura to file a civil suit against Combs in November 2023, which preceded a federal criminal investigation. Combs denied wrongdoing, and the two settled the lawsuit a day later. 'It's no longer acceptable that men are allowed to act in such a manner and get away with it. Women are no longer scared to come forward,' Bonner said. 'That's the reason why Cassie was able to bring this lawsuit because of the simple fact that the #MeToo movement gave women a voice.' Public awareness of the #MeToo movement gave rise as a hashtag in 2017, after Hollywood super producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual harassment and assault, but it was founded more than a decade prior by activist Tarana Burke. What followed after Weinstein were allegations against other men in powerful positions. Bonner said that when it comes to legal issues of the rich and the famous, 'we want a light, a look into the life of a celebrity.' 'In some instances it's a great equalizer because this person, now all of their business that is normally shrouded in secrecy, has come to the front,' she said. An estimated 150 million people reportedly watched Simpson's verdict in 1995. While the Combs trial has not been televised, the social media era has meant details of his alleged abuse of power and hours of trial testimony have been closely followed and discussed for months. 'It gives us a chance to weigh in on something that's completely not our business to talk about it,' Bonner said. 'It's in the zeitgeist.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Edinburgh man who robbed post office with imitation gun jailed
A man who robbed an Edinburgh post office with an imitation gun has been jailed. John Clark, 20, entered the post office in Milton Road West at around 7.15am on September 24, 2023. He pled guilty at the High Court in Glasgow, and was sentenced on June 27. Clark will serve four years in prison for the armed robbery. He made threats to members of staff who were working there, and made off with a sum of money. READ MORE: Edinburgh man found 'seriously injured' at cemetery as police tape off scene READ MORE: Edinburgh police erect cordon near cemetery as officer stands guard Detective Constable Chris Stewart said: "This was a terrifying experience for those involved, and Clark will now face the consequences of his actions. "I hope this outcome provides some reassurance to the victims. We remain committed to thoroughly investigating violent crime and ensuring those responsible are held to account." Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
