Jenni Hermoso, the Spanish football star at the centre of the ‘kiss-gate’ scandal that rocked last year’s Women’s World Cup has spoken out in a new Netflix documentary, saying she was left ‘petrified’ and fearing for her personal safety in the weeks after receiving an unsolicited kiss from ex Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales.
Former President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Rubiales, 47, resigned after he grabbed Hermoso’s head and kissed her on the mouth during the medal ceremony after Spain beat England to win the World Cup in Australia on August 20th last year.
The new documentary, released on Friday, reveals the lengths the Spanish Football Federation went to get to bury the scandal, with Hermoso’s team-mates saying ‘they tried every single way’ to kill the story – and ‘would have happily ruined her career to save his’.
Spanish footballing star Jenni Hermoso, who was kissed by then Spanish football president Luis Rubiales on the lips after the country’s World Cup victory, sparking a global backlash – and an upcoming court case tells her story in a new Netflix documentary It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football
After Spain beat England to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final on August 20, 2023, Rubiales, right, grabbed Hermoso during the medal ceremony and planted a kiss on her lips
The moment caused outrage as viewers watched on – but Rubiales dismissed the reaction as ‘bulls***’ after the game – and described his treatment as ‘social assassination’
In It’s All Over, Hermoso discusses the fear she felt for her personal safety during the aftermath of the scandal, telling her close team-mates messages targeting her on social media left her ‘looking around’ for fear of being attacked when going out alone
Rubiales will stand trial in February next year, charged with one count of sexual assault and one charge of coercion, the latter based on his attempts to get Hermoso and her relatives to defend his actions after the incident.
The case will be heard at Spain’s high court in San Fernando de Henares, Madrid between February 3rd and 19th.
He has described the condemnation of his actions as ‘social assassination’ and initially told journalists on the night of the win that it was a ‘bulls***’ story, saying ‘Let stupid people deal with their own stupidity, I’m done’.
Public prosecutors have requested a sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison for Rubiales – one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion.
Hermoso and Rubiales pictured after Spain’s win over England last August, in Sydney
Hermoso says in the documentary that she felt immense pressure to ‘downplay’ the story in the days after winning the World Cup (pictured left at the 68th Ballon D’Or photocall last month). Right, on the pitch during last year’s World Cup
The documentary, dubbed into English, centres on how the scandal erupted on social media in the moments after the kiss – and features many of the players from the Spanish team, including Hermoso, as well as journalists and former Federation officials.
Its title It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football examines how videos of Hermoso looking happy and celebrating with her team-mates were used against her as the Federation tried to quieten the growing maelstrom about his actions.
The ex Spanish FA’s president was also criticised for grabbing his crotch and carrying Spanish player Athenea del Castillo Beivide after winning the Women’s World Cup
Hermoso slammed the Spanish FA for how they tried to spin videos of her partying as not caring about Rubiales kissing her, and says she was worried she would be physically attacked after being taunted by trolls on social media as the story grew bigger.
The star player told her team-mates: ‘I was petrified. It was a moment of “Wow, what’s going on here?” Noone could understand, not you or anyone else what those days were like.
‘I started getting messages on social media saying “Don’t speak, this won’t be the end”, like threats. I got to a point where I was walking and I had to look around because I was scared.’
Alexia Putellas, Hermoso’s Spanish national squad team-mate, also appears in the documentary, saying if it ‘meant ruining Jenni’s career, then they’d ruin it’ to save face after the kiss-gate scandal broke
The incident completely overshadowed Spain’s World Cup win and sparked outrage across the football world – igniting one of the worst crises in the history of the sport in Spain
Former Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) chief Luis Rubiales arrives at the National Court in Madrid, Spain, 15 September 2023
Spain’s player Jennifer Hermoso leaves after an audience at the Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid on January 2, 2024
Alexia Putellas, Hermoso’s Spanish national squad team-mate, also appears in the documentary, revealing how her shocked team-mate told her immediately after the incident ‘Rubiales kissed me’ and how she watched Hermoso feel the full force of the Federation in the days after it as she was asked to ‘downplay’ the issue.
The player says: ‘They [the Royal Spanish Football Federation] asked her to go out and say that she didn’t mind, that everything was fine, to downplay the issue and protect the President. If that meant ruining Jenni’s career, then they’d ruin it’.
Putellas and Hermoso discuss how, after flying to Ibiza to celebrate their victory, Hermoso broke down in tears under the constant pressure from the Federation to speak out.
Hermoso says the Federation ‘integrity office manager’ called her while the players were having a celebratory lunch on the Spanish island to say she had to speak up for Rubiales.
‘I was there eating, we were having lunch. He told me I had to have a video call with him, to describe what had happened and I was supposed to say the moment had occurred because of the euphoria of winning.’
The film also sees the players and former officials discussing the ‘moral indignity’ of Rubiales after the match – after he was seen grabbing his crotch on camera.
A FIFA disciplinary committee found Rubiales had acted with ‘a sense of complete impunity’ at the trophy ceremony after Spain’s 1-0 win over England
One Spanish football commentator told the film: ‘In a country where there’s a royal family and you’re with the Queen and the Princess and you’re representing your country as the president of an organisation, the biggest sports event – and you grab your balls in front of them?’
The country’s former VP of Integrity, Ana Munoz, described the moment where Rubiales grabbed his crotch, saying: ‘I couldn’t believe it, the image we were presenting to the world wasn’t one of being world champions, it was a pure display of moral indignity.’
The documentary’s title echoes the message posted on social media by midfielder Alexia Putellas in the aftermath of the incident.
Putellas posted ‘se acabó’, meaning ‘it’s all over’, on social media, the phrase became a hashtag that went viral – with many of the players saying they wouldn’t compete for their country if Rubiales remained in his role.
Hermoso filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September 2023, telling the judge she had come under pressure to defend him both on the flight back from Australia and on a subsequent team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.
In her testimony, she said she had faced ‘constant harassment by the parties under investigation, which disrupted her normal life, causing her anxiety and distress’.
Numerous other witnesses have testified before the judge about the pressure faced by Hermoso, among them two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas and two other Spanish teammates.
The former federation chief, who quit his post last year in the wake of the controversy, told private Spanish television station La Sexta in April that he could not understand how it could be labelled as sexual assault, saying there was ‘no sexual context’ to it.
Rubiales was banned from all ‘football-related activities’ by FIFA for ninety days, extended to three years after its Disciplinary Committee found he had breached its Disciplinary Code.
A number of Spain players signed a statement saying they’d refused to play for the national side until Rubiales was removed.
Rocio Galvez is congratulated by President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales (R) next to Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso after winning the Women’s World Cup
‘The changes made are not enough for the players to feel safe, where women are respected, where there is support for women’s football and where we can maximise our potential,’ the players said in a statement.
A total of 39 players, including 21 of the 23 World Cup winning squad, then signed a letter demanding further changes within the Spanish FA.
Eventually, on September 10 last year, Rubiales did resign as Spanish federation president and also from his role as a UEFA vice-president, having been provisionally suspended by FIFA pending investigations.
Rubiales was also banned from contacting Hermoso or being within 200 metres of her.
A week later it was reported Rubiales was selling his £1.2mn home in Madrid ‘amid growing legal fees’ connected to the case.
Rubiales was later banned from all football-related activity for three years.
A FIFA statement confirming the decision last October read: ‘The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.’
It’s All Over: The Kiss that Changed Spanish Football is out now on Netflix