Spanish star Hermoso testifies about Rubiales's World Cup kiss
Spanish World Cup-winning star Jenni Hermoso told a judge on Tuesday that the kiss forced on her by disgraced former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales was "at no point consensual" and that she had come under pressure to defend his actions.
After arriving at the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid just before 10am, the 33-year-old went to testify before Judge Francisco de Jorge, who is investigating Rubiales on allegations of sexual assault and coercion.
"At the end of her declaration, she ratified the statement made at the public prosecutor's office that the kiss was completely unexpected and at no point was it consensual," a judicial source told AFP.
The incident sparked outrage across the football world and ignited one of the worst crises in the history of the sport in Spain. It also led to a boycott of the national team by the World Cup-winning players, and to the eventual resignation of Rubiales despite his denial of wrongdoing and his allegation that the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso was expected to reiterate in court her allegations that the kiss was unwanted and Rubiales and his staff tried to pressure her and her family to downplay the incident that tarnished Spain's first Women's World Cup title.
The testimony was expected behind close doors, with Spanish media saying Hermoso asked the judge to keep her court appearance as private as possible. She arrived wearing a grey coat and waved to journalists before entering the court through one of its main entrances along with her lawyers.
During the incident on August 20, the then head of Spain's RFEF football federation held her head in both hands and forcibly kissed her on the lips after Spain won the World Cup in Australia.
He has said the act was "a consensual peck" but
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