On Wednesday, the trial of former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales continued with more testimonies being revealed. The matter is to do with the non-consensual kiss that Rubiales gave to Jenni Hermoso in the aftermath of Spain’s World Cup victory in August 2023.
Rafael Hermoso, Jenni’s brother, was one of the witnesses called by the Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday. As per MD, he revealed that Jorge Vilda, former head coach of Spain’s women’s team, had approached him in the aftermath of the incident, and he claimed that Vilda had pressured him to play down the events that had happened.
“He had come twice to look for me and caught me asleep. On the third time she came very affably and asked me how I was doing, raising my sister up. We were talking about soccer and suddenly he dropped the subject of the kiss. He said, as if it were something banal, that it was a consensual kiss, between two people who appreciate each other.
“Vilda told me that the president was sending him to talk to me to see if my sister could go out in Doha with Rubiales to make a video and calm the waters. ‘It’s the best thing for everyone,’ he told me. He also said that if I didn’t do it, things were not going to go well for me.”
Rafael Hermoso’s statements were backed up by Misa Rodriguez, Real Madrid Femenino goalkeeper and teammate of Jenni, who said that she witnessed the events that were described.
“I saw that Vilda is talking to Rubiales and Jenni had already told us that she was receiving pressure. Then to my surprise, I saw that Vilda went to the family area. I followed him from behind, I stopped with my family and he was walking around passing by Rafa (Rafael Hermoso) and then I see him start talking to him.
