MADRID, Feb 3: Former Spanish football federation head Luis Rubiales goes on trial on Monday over the forced kiss he planted on Women's World Cup player Jenni Hermoso's lips that sparked an international outcry.
Here is a look at how the crisis unfolded:
Spain win the Women's World Cup for the first time by beating England 1-0 in the final in Sydney.
During the medal ceremony Rubiales, then aged 45, cups Hermoso's head and forcibly kisses her on the lips in images beamed live around the world.
Hermoso posts a live video on Instagram showing the celebrations in the changing room in which she responds to teasing from teammates about the kiss saying: "I didn't like it, eh!" while laughing.
A statement released by Rubiales' RFEF football federation later quotes her as saying the kiss was "a natural gesture of affection and gratitude".
But in a Netflix documentary released in November 2024, Hermoso said she was in shock at the time and had cried over the kiss in the team bus.
FIFA suspend Spanish football chief Rubiales over Hermoso kiss
August 21, 2023: Apology
Rubiales initially downplays the incident, calling it a "peck between two friends", and dismisses his critics as "idiots". He later apologises in a video posted on social media.
"It was done without any ill intention in a moment of the highest exuberance. Here we saw it as natural and normal but outside it has caused a commotion," he says.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls the kiss an "unacceptable gesture" and says Rubiales' apology is "insufficient".
The Spanish Footballers' Association, several coaches, clubs and star women players from Spain and beyond also criticise Rubiales.
Rubiales defies expectations and refuses to step down at an emergency RFEF meeting.
"I will not resign, I will not resign, I will not resign," he shouts at the gathering which is broadcast live on Spanish TV.
"A consensual 'peck' is enough to get me out of here? I will fight until the end," he says, while also railing against "false feminism" in a speech that wins widespread applause.
In a statement later that day, Hermoso says the unwanted kiss had left her feeling "vulnerable and like the victim of an assault", describing it as "an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part".
She and 80 other Spain players, including the entire World Cup squad, say they will not play for the national team until there are changes in the RFEF's leadership.
World football governing body FIFA suspends Rubiales from all football-related activities for 90 days while it decides on disciplinary measures over his behaviour.
Its disciplinary committee also orders Rubiales and RFEF officials and employees alike to refrain from contacting Hermoso or those around her.
Prosecutors at Spain's top criminal court open a preliminary investigation into Rubiales' kiss on grounds it could constitute a "sexual assault".
The RFEF's regional leaders urge Rubiales to resign and call for a "profound" restructuring of the organisation "to make way for a new era in the management of Spanish football".
Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda, who is close to Rubiales, is dismissed by the RFEF in the wake of the scandal.
Vilda was a controversial figure and some players had protested against him and the federation ahead of the World Cup, with 15 of them going on strike. But many relented and three were called up for the tournament.
Spanish public prosecutors file a lawsuit against Rubiales for sexual assault and coercion after Hermoso made an official legal complaint over the kiss two days earlier.
Rubiales informs the federation he is resigning from his post and stepping down as a UEFA vice-president.
But he insists he will continue to fight his corner. "I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power so that it prevails," he says in an open letter.
A court orders Rubiales to stand trial for sexual assault over the kiss, and for alleged coercion subsequently exerted to make her say that it was consensual.
