The Spanish soccer star Jennifer Hermoso has filed a sexual assault complaint against Luis Rubiales, the head of the country’s soccer federation, after he gave her an unsolicited kiss in the wake of her team’s World Cup victory in Australia last month, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
Prosecutors in Spain opened an initial investigation last Thursday into whether Mr. Rubiales could be charged with committing sexual assault and invited Ms. Hermoso, who had said that the kiss made her feel “vulnerable” and a “victim of an attack,” to formalize a complaint within 15 days.
In Spain, sexual assault is a crime punishable with one to four years in prison.
“It was a necessary step to begin the judicial process,” said Mar Hedo, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office.
She said the first phase of the case would come in a few days.
Persons:
Jennifer Hermoso, Luis Rubiales, Hermoso, Rubiales, ”, Mar Hedo
Organizations:
England, Prosecutors
Locations:
Spanish, Australia, Spain