A judge at the national court of Spain in Madrid has given Spain’s former RFEF (Spanish Football Federation) President a restraining order on Jenni Hermoso.
The court order bans Rubiales from going within 200 metres of the Spanish national women’s team international with an ongoing investigation into sexual assault and coercion against Rubiales.
In August, after Spain defeating England in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia, Rubiales was shown on live television to grab Hermoso around the face and kiss her on the lips.
Since the incident, Hermoso has said it was not consensual and has filed a sexual assault claim against Rubiales. Rubiales stood his ground initially but eventually resigned last week.
Prior to resigning, he told a General Assembly at the RFEF that he was the victim and he would not resign, which was received with applause by those in the Assembly, including Spain’s women’s coach, Jorge Vilda, and the men’s manager, Luis de la Fuente.
Both Vilda and de la Fuente have since retracted their apparent support and criticised Rubiales with a general strike from women’s players also beginning in the country, which has now also ended.
Amidst the controversy in Madrid, Rubiales’ mother went on hunger strike in a church in Motril, in Andalusia, to protest the treatment of her son, which she viewed as unfair.
The new President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation is Pedro Rocha. Hermoso, who plays as an attacking midfielder for Mexican side Pachuca, has retired from the national team following the World Cup. She earned 101 caps for her country, scoring 51 goals.
Rubiales has reiterated once again that he will fight his corner and insists that he has done nothing wrong, previously imploring Hermoso to come forward and ‘tell the truth’
