Prosecutors seek prison sentence for former football boss over 'kissgate' scandal

Spanish prosecutors have announced they are seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for the country’s former FA chief Luis Rubiales over the infamous ‘Kissgate’ scandal.

They said on Wednesday they are also seeking for him to pay compensation of €100,000 to footballer Jenni Hermoso if he is convicted at trial.

They laid out their pre-trial demands in a six-page indictment made public on Wednesday.

They said they were seeking a one-year jail term for a sexual assault charge and a separate one-year six-month prison sentence for coercion linked to his alleged attempts to get Jenni to speak out in his defence over the ‘unwanted’ kiss he gave the Women’s World Cup winner last summer.

Madrid-based judge Francisco de Jorge paved the way for Rubiales to be tried earlier this year after recommending he be put in the dock.

He said his long-running probe had uncovered “solid evidence” pointing to the potential illegality of the kiss.

Mr de Jorge, who has already quizzed the former football boss and his alleged victim separately in closed sessions at Spain’s centralised Audiencia Nacional court, said in a five-page ruling made public in January: “The investigation has revealed the existence of solid evidence the kiss Luis Manuel Rubiales Bejar gave the player Jennifer Hermoso was not consensual and was a unilateral and surprise initiative on his part.

“Whether there was no any erotic intention or it was a result of the state of euphoria and excitement experienced as a consequence of the extraordinary sporting triumph preceding it is something that should be valued in a public trial.”

He said he had concluded Hermoso had been left “bewildered and surprised” by the “unexpected” kiss and “didn’t have time to react” after Rubiales