De La Fuente ‘Unaware’ Of Forced Kiss Scandal Backlash
Luis de la Fuente, the coach of Spain, said he had no idea the scale of the scandal or how to silence it at the forced kiss trial of the former football federation chief.
Jenni Hermoso, who had just helped Spain defeat England in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final in Australia, was the subject of Rubiales’ kiss, which sparked outrage all over the world.
Hermoso has become a symbol of the fight against sexism and macho culture as a result of Rubiales’ scandal, which forced him to resign in disgrace that year.
For Rubiales, the prosecution wants one year in prison for the forced kiss, and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso, 34, to downplay the incident.
Rubiales, 47, has called the kiss an innocuous “peck between friends celebrating” and denied any coercion.
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De la Fuente claimed to have no knowledge of a press release released in Hermoso’s name to a court hearing in Madrid, which he had prepared to stoke the growing outcry.
The men’s team coach, appointed during Rubiales ‘ 2018-2023 tenure, said he found out about the kiss on the plane but was “unaware of the scale” of the backlash.
He claimed he “didn’t exchange a word” with federation press chief Patricia Perez Requena during a crisis meeting between senior federation officials on August 23, 2023.
De la Fuente said, “We’re getting into a huge mess with the kiss business,” but we continued to speak about issues that bothered him.
Pablo Garcia Cuervo, a former communications director before the scandal broke out, made a statement defending his role in writing it.
Hermoso’s lawyer claimed in an interview that he had obtained her permission to write it.
He feared that Hermoso would “change her version” as the scandal spread back home and he denied asking her to appear in a video with Rubiales.
“Hermoso is a rather influence-prone and pretty manipulable person, so she can change her opinion”, Cuervo said.
Hermoso claimed on Monday that she felt “disrespected” following a “should not happen in any social or work setting.”
The trial will continue until February 19 until then.
Source: Channels TV
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