On day three of Luis Rubiales’ trial for the alleged sexual assault and coercion of Jenni Hermoso, her brother testified that the former Spain women’s coach Jorge Vilda had told him the player would face “personal and professional consequences” if she did not publicly agree with Rubiales’ version of the kiss.
Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), kissed the Spain player Hermoso as the team were being handed their winners’ medals after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final against England in Sydney on August 20, 2023. He maintains that the kiss was consensual.
The prosecution alleges that Rubiales, 47, and three other RFEF employees — Vilda, the former Newcastle United forward and ex-Spain sporting director Albert Luque, and former marketing director Ruben Rivera — coerced Hermoso into publicly supporting Rubiales’ version that the kiss had been consensual. Rubiales, Luque, Rivera and Vilda deny any wrongdoing.
On Monday, Hermoso testified she had not consented to the kiss and that she had refused to record a video saying she had no problem with it after Rubiales asked her to do so on their journey back to Spain.
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During Wednesday’s session at the Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s national high court in San Fernando de Henares near Madrid, prosecution counsel Marta Durantez asked Rafael Hermoso whether Vilda had approached him during the plane journey to ask him to persuade his sister to take part in the video with Rubiales.
Rafael said Vilda came down the plane and first talked to him in an amicable manner about the final, but that his tone then became more serious.
“Vilda said to me: ‘The president has sent me to see if you can talk to your sister and convince her to make a joint video to explain that the kiss was consensual, an act of affection and friendship. And that she felt fine and that absolutely nothing had happened’,” said Rafael.
“(Vilda) told me it was the best thing for everyone… that if this continued, it was going to get bigger and it was going to harm everyone. He said that if she collaborated, things were going to go well for her, that the doors of the federation were going to be open, but that if not, he didn’t know what could happen.”
Rubiales and Vilda after the Women’s World Cup final (Maja Hitij – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Rafael said he had replied to say his sister should not record the video. He testified that Hermoso had told him after the game that the kiss had made her feel “disgusted”.
Rafael added that Vilda had told him Rubiales’ daughters were crying after seeing the media storm around their father. According to Hermoso’s brother, Vilda said it was “fair” for the player to help the federation given the “favours” it had done for her, although Rafael said neither he nor Hermoso knew what this referred to.
“This would get more difficult, heads would fall, this would not be good for her, or for anyone,” Rafael said Vilda told him. “His last phrase to me was that we should take into account the consequences, professional and personal, that this could have for my sister.”
Rafael was also asked about a conversation he had on his arrival back in Madrid with the federation’s former director of women’s football, Ana Alvarez, who gave testimony in Monday’s session.
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“I told (Alvarez) what Jorge had said to me,” Rafael said. “She told me to tell my sister not to do anything, that they were just going to use her to save the president’s ass and throw her to the dogs. She told me not to do anything they wanted her to do.”
During questioning from Vilda’s counsel, Luis Jordana, the court was shown a video of a Spanish TV interview — on the Antena 3 programme Espejo Publico on August 25, 2023 — in which Rafael said that in no moment had he received any pressure from Vilda about the kiss.
“I denied it to protect my sister, I lied on TV, due to what the federation could do,” Rafael replied in court on Wednesday.
Hermoso leaves court after her testimony on Monday (Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
Also giving testimony to the trial on Wednesday was Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, who was asked by the prosecution how her team-mate Hermoso had appeared after the game. Rodriguez said Hermoso had taken part in the celebrations, but that she looked different after leaving the dressing room to speak with Rubiales.
“I saw the euphoria had dropped and she was feeling bad,” Rodriguez said. “Jenni is a happy person (who) enjoys the moment. Afterwards, you could see her thinking of other things, with her head down.”
“On the plane (to Madrid), she cried after Luis Rubiales spoke with her,” Rodriguez also said, in response to prosecution questions. “She felt pressured to do the video, which she did not want to do.”
During day three of the trial, Rubiales’ lawyer, Olga Tubau, said the ex-president’s daughters, Ana and Lucia, who had been due to appear later in the trial as defence witnesses, would no longer be called to give testimony. They had been due to testify on Monday, February 10.
The trial continues.
(Top photo: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images)
