Spain's Jenni Hermoso files complaint over Luis Rubiales' kiss

Spain player Jenni Hermoso has filed a criminal complaint over suspended football chief Luis Rubiales's kiss on her lips at the Women's World Cup final, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Prosecutors at Spain's top criminal court opened a preliminary investigation last week into whether Rubiales could be charged with the crime of "sexual assault" over the unsolicited kiss.

Hermoso's complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, boosts the chances that the court will press ahead with the case and Rubiales will be charged.

The prosecutor's office of the National Court will now formally present its complaint against Rubiales "as soon as possible", the prosecutor's office said Wednesday in a brief statement.

Under Spanish law, sexual assault includes a wide array of crimes from online abuse and groping to rape, each with different penalties.

The punishment for a non-consensual kiss can range from a fine to four years in prison, according to a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.

Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Rubiales, 46, sparked a worldwide backlash after forcibly kissing Hermoso during the medal ceremony following Spain's triumph in Sydney on August 20.

Hermoso, 33, later said the unwanted kiss had left her feeling "vulnerable and like the victim of an assault", with a statement on social media describing it as "an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part".

Rubiales insists the kiss was consensual.

World football governing body Fifa provisionally suspended Rubiales for 90 days after he refused to resign from his post.

Some 81 players went on strike from the women's side in protest after Rubiales' fierce defensive speech following the incident, in which he railed against "false