Hermoso’s brother says she was threatened with dire consequences post the Luis Rubiales incident at the podium.
Hermoso’s brother on Wednesday told the forced kiss trial of Spain’s former football federation chief, Luis Rubiales, his sister was threatened with “consequences” if she did not downplay the affair.
Hermoso had just assisted Spain in defeating England in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final in Australia when Rubiales planted the kiss on her, sparking fury across the globe.
Hermoso is now a symbol of the struggle against sexism in sports and macho culture after the incident forced Rubiales to resign in shame that year.
The striker’s older brother, Rafael Hermoso, claimed that on the trip return to Spain, former women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda urged him to “convince” his sister to film a video with Rubiales to demonstrate that she was unconcerned by the kiss.
Vilda “told me that my sister was of a certain age, that she already had a career and that if she cooperated, things would go well for her”, he told the national court just outside Madrid.
“But that if she did not cooperate, there was no way of knowing what would happen,” he continued.
“The last thing Mr Vilda said to me was that we should bear in mind the professional and personal consequences that all this could have for my sister,” he added.
Rubiales faces two and a half years in prison, one year for sexual assault for the forced kiss, and eighteen months for allegedly forcing Hermoso, 34, to minimise the occurrence, according to the prosecution.
Rubiales, 47, rejected any compulsion and described the kiss as a harmless “peck between friends celebrating.” On February 12th, he is expected to testify.
Alongside Rubiales, Vilda and two former federation executives, Albert Luque and Ruben Rivera, are on trial.
Prosecutors are requesting that they serve 18 months in prison for their alleged attempts to coerce Hermoso.