Spanish football chief convicted for non-consensual kiss after a century of debate
Luis Rubiales, Spanish Football Federation president, was convicted in 2025 and fined €10,800 for aggressively kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso without consent.
During the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final celebrations, Luis Rubiales grabbed Spanish player Jenni Hermoso and kissed her on the mouth without consent. Hermoso was distressed and pressed charges.
Rubiales called it "fake feminism." The court disagreed; in 2025 he was convicted and fined €10,800.
The case highlights a dramatic shift in how courts treat unwanted kisses. For over a century, feminists objected to stolen kisses from strangers.
In 1908, British magistrates dismissed such cases as "part of the game." An Austrian court ruled in 1954 that a kiss wasn't punishable.
As recently as 2001, a British young man found guilty of grabbing and kissing a girl received only a deferred sentence. The Rubiales conviction signals that courts now recognise unwanted physical affection as a real harm.
- €10,800 in 2025
- Conviction and fine
- Luis Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso
- The people
- From 1908 dismissal to 2025 conviction
- Legal shift
Why it mattersThe conviction establishes legal precedent that non-consensual physical affection, even a kiss, is assault, a principle feminists have fought for over a century.
AustraliaNo direct Australian legal effect yet, but the case illustrates how courts globally are increasingly treating unwanted physical contact as assault rather than harmless gesture.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 h ago
