Luis Rubiales appears in court over sexual assault allegations

The former president of Spain's soccer federation Luis Rubiales has denied allegations of sexual assault and coercion filed by soccer player Jenni Hermoso over an alleged non-consensual kiss, the prosecutor leading the case said in a preliminary court hearing on Friday.

The prosecutor has also requested a restraining order against Rubiales, so he cannot get within 500m of Hermoso, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Rubiales refused to directly apologise to Hermoso over the kiss that ultimately forced his resignation as Spanish football federation president.

In an interview with Piers Morgan on Talk TV, Rubiales instead continued to maintain the kiss was “consensual” and went on to suggest that the negative publicity over the affair had been “created by spurious arguments and people”.

Rubiales announced his resignation in a statement posted on his unverified X account – formerly Twitter – on Sunday evening, having already been suspended by Fifa pending an investigation into his behaviour.

Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips during the trophy presentation after Spain’s victory over England in last month’s World Cup final.

Hermoso said the kiss was not consensual and submitted the complaint to the national prosecutor’s office.

-Reuters, additional reporting by Press Association.