There is a new development in Luis Rubiales' legal journey.
The former president of the Spanish Soccer Federation—who resigned after coming under fire for kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent after their World Cup Win—will officially head to trial.
On Jan. 25, per NBC News, a Spanish court shared that judge Francisco de Jorge's investigation into the incident determined the kiss as "being unconsented and carried out unilaterally and in a surprising fashion." The outlet adds that prosecutors have accused Rubiales of sexual assault for allegedly coercing Hermoso to publicly support him amid the backlash he received.
The judge also ruled, per NBC News, that former Spain coach Jorge Vilda, sports director of Spain's men's team Albert Luque, and the former head of marketing for the federation should also be tried alongside Rubiales for allegedly pressuring Hermoso to defend his actions.
E! News has reached out to the legal teams for Rubiales, Vilda and Luque for comment but has not heard back.
For Vilda's part, after being fired from the women's national team in September, he told Cadena SER radio, per AP News, "I have always shown the maximum respect for my players and with everyone I have coached and worked with." Luque has also denied coercion, according to El Mundo.
Though Rubiales did resign from his post as the head of the soccer federation in September and apologized for his actions, he has maintained there was no wrongdoing on his part.
"There's an event, which I have to regret, which is everything that happened between the player and I," the 46-year-old said in an Aug. 21 video statement. "I surely made a mistake, I have to recognize that. In a moment of elation, without any intention of bad faith, what happened happened—I think in a very spontaneous way. I repeat, there was no bad faith between us."
In his message, Rubiales asked Hermoso to tell her side of the story on social media. And in response, the soccer star reaffirmed that the kiss was not only not consensual, but that she'd been receiving pressure to "make a statement that could justify" Rubiales' actions.
"I feel obliged to report," the 33-year-old shared in an Aug. 25 statement, written in both Spanish and English, "that Mr. Luis Rubiales' words explaining the unfortunate incident are categorically false and part of the manipulative culture that he himself has generated."
She continued, "I want to make it clear that at no time did the conversation to which Mr. Luis Rubiales refers to in his address take place, and, above all, was his kiss ever consensual. I want to reiterate as I did before that I did not like this incident."
Hermoso testified before the investigative judge in January, according to NBC News.
In addition to being banned from FIFA until 2026 and being ruled unfit to hold a post in sports management for three years by Spain's sports authority, the outlet reports that based on a sexual consent law passed in 2022, Rubiales could face a fine or a one-to-four-year prison sentence if found guilty.
(E! News and NBC are part of the NBCUniversal family.)