The decision not to call up Jenni Hermoso in her first two games at the head of the team after the crisis over the Rubiales kiss was only guided by technical and/or sporting reasons. This is stated by the coach of the women’s soccer team, Montsé Tomé, who denied this Friday before the judge that either her predecessor Jorge Vilda or members of the Federation influenced her decision.
According to what legal sources inform the EFE agency, Montse Tomé has explained before the magistrate that she adopted that decision for strictly sporting reasons but also due to the “media pressure” that existed due to the non-consensual kiss that the former president of the Federation gave to the soccer player. after the victory in the World Cup final in Sydney (Australia), on August 20, 2023.
The coach testified this Friday as a witness before the magistrate at the request of the previous coach, Jorge Vilda, one of the four whom the judge proposes to sit on the bench for this reason, in his case due to the pressure to which the coach was subjected. player to say that the kiss Rubiales gave her was consensual.
According to sources, Montse Tomé has denied that Vilda, who had already been dismissed, or any official from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) influenced her decision not to call up the player in the first two matches of the Liga. Nations, played last September, but it was due to technical reasons, because Jenni Hermoso had not played many during the preseason.
Yes, he has pointed out Vilda, according to the sources consulted, as the person who told him that he should attend the Federation assembly on August 25 of last year, in which Rubiales, despite what was initially thought, assured that I wasn’t going to resign. He ended up doing it days later and is currently disqualified by FIFA.
With this statement, which the judge refused to practice at first and was ordered by the Criminal Chamber of the National Court, he intended to investigate whether Tomé’s decision not to summon Jenni Hermoso was imposed “by third parties” or was related with the player’s refusal to sign a joint statement with Rubiales.
Montse Tomé explained at the time that she was not called up to “protect” her from all the media noise generated and the player wondered what or who they wanted to protect her from with that decision.
Last week, the judge proposed putting Rubiales and Vilda, currently in charge of the Moroccan women’s team, on the bench; to the sports director of the men’s team, Albert Luque, and to the marketing manager of the RFEF, Rubén Rivera, for the pressure to which Jenni Hermoso was subjected. For the moment, despite the defenses’ request, the magistrate has decided to maintain that order.
After several months of investigation, the judge concludes that the kiss that Rubiales gave Jenni Hermoso at the World Cup trophy ceremony “was not consensual” and responded to “a unilateral and surprising initiative” by the former president of the RFEF, who has investigated for a crime of sexual assault and another of coercion.
