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00:00Former head of the Spanish Football Federation Luisa Rubiales goes on trial for the forced kiss
00:05he gave to Jennifer Hermoso moments after Spain won the 2023 Women's World Cup.
00:11As Hermoso and her teammates collected their medals,
00:14Rubiales clasped her head and planted a kiss on her lips.
00:17Rubiales faces one year in prison for that sexual assault and one and a half years
00:23for trying to get Hermosa to downplay the incident.
00:26Two other people are also accused of that latter crime.
00:28Hermosa is expected to take the stand in court.
00:59With protests across Spain denouncing a culture of machismo in society.
01:04He was also lambasted for clutching his crotch at the final whistle,
01:08several feet from the Spanish Queen and her daughter.
01:11The women's national team refused en masse to play if he continued in the job.
01:15After initial defiance, he resigned three weeks later
01:18and was suspended from all football-related activity by FIFA for three years.
01:23Rubiales was also accused, along with other figures in Spanish football,
01:27of putting pressure on Hermoso to publicly defend him.
01:31A Spanish court last year ruled there was enough evidence
01:34to prosecute the former football chief for coercion.
01:37Three others, including the team's then-coach Jorge Vilda, are also on trial.
01:42Several of Spain's World Cup winning team will testify,
01:45as will Rubiales himself, on February 12th.
01:49Prosecutors are seeking a prison term of two and a half years for Rubiales,
01:53though in Spain those who receive sentences of less than two years
01:57can usually avoid prison by paying damages.
02:28And we all know that in our lives this kind of situation
02:32potentially could arise and probably arise.
02:35As a former soccer player, which is in Europe a main world,
02:40we lived in this atmosphere of sexism,
02:43worse than because soccer was not for women,
02:46or that we are just tolerated.
02:48If you want to play, no other way but silence.
02:52And that's why I want to say thank you to Mr. Rubiales
02:55because he gave the world the proof of what is going on
02:59between men and women with sexual attacks,
03:02from the smallest to the highest.
03:04And the one he has done is the highest.
03:07What he did in a place where the camera gave the possibility
03:11to face in life, in life,
03:15he's on his own, he's on his own.
03:20Indeed, it's interesting to hear you say that.
03:22I hadn't thought about the context of it.
03:26It shocked me, the dates, this is all happening in 2023.
03:28But saying there that, of course,
03:30football has up to now predominantly been a man's world.
03:35There's the kiss itself, there's the coercion,
03:37the pressure after the kiss and from other coaches.
03:40Again, this has all happened in 2023, so so recently.
03:43Would you think that things have at least improved
03:47over the past number of years?
03:48Or do you think that this may be
03:49the watershed moment that was needed?
03:53Oh, personally, I didn't face this situation in my career.
03:59Only, only ordinary sex, but I knew that women
04:03intended to denounce sexual attacks
04:06on their national level associations,
04:09and they were not listened and protected.
04:10In France, recently, Sarah Bidule denounced sexual attacks
04:13thanks to her.
04:15The case of Janissa is really interesting
04:19because for me, it's kind of me too,
04:21in sports, not only in sports, but also in sports.
04:25And it's the fact that everybody all around the world
04:28could face in life that a man,
04:31which is a powerful man, can take a girl in his arm
04:36and kiss her on her lips.
04:38And that's not normal.
04:40If we face really the way, you know,
04:43Ribera has reacted, for him, he's not guilty.
04:48That's the case.
04:50For him, he has done something which is normal
04:53because the education, the world where he gives,
04:55the way where he was educated,
04:58make this situation as a normal situation.
05:02He has the power to do this.
05:04And for girls, for the first time,
05:06and thanks to Jennifer, she said she was not content.
05:09She said that she was aggressive.
05:11She said that she felt uncomfortable.
05:14And it's also the way we have to react
05:17all of us, all around the world.
05:19We have to denounce.
05:20We have to stop the silence.
05:22We have to accept that the behaviour of men
05:27are normal in this case.
05:29Nicole Abar, we'll have to leave it there.
05:31But thanks so much for joining us
05:32to give us your view on that situation.
05:35Very much appreciated.