Luis Rubiales, the former Spanish football coach, called for two and a half years in prison

In the criminal trial related to the kissing scandal, the public prosecutor's office requested a two-and-a-half-year prison term for former Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales, media reports said. Spanish media reported on Wednesday, citing the judiciary, that he must also pay 50,000 euros in compensation to world champion Jennifer Hermoso, whom he kissed on the mouth at an awards ceremony after winning the World Cup last summer.

A year's imprisonment was requested for the sexual assault charge in the form of a non-consensual kiss, and a year and a half imprisonment for the coercion charge. The coercion allegation relates to the fact that Rubiales and three other soccer officials put pressure on Hermoso to publicly state that the kiss was consensual. As for the other three officials, a year and a half in prison was requested on charges of coercion. Together, the four defendants must pay Hermoso an additional €50,000 in compensation.

Despite the request, there was initially no confirmation from the judiciary. The date of the oral hearing has not been announced. In Spain, prison sentences of up to two years are usually suspended.

However, Rubiales is also facing problems in another case. He faces arrest when he returns from his stay abroad. A spokesman for the Madrid judiciary said when asked last Thursday that the background to this was an investigation into alleged illegal contracts concluded during Rubiales' five-year presidency of the national federation.

So far, there is no arrest warrant for the 46-year-old woman, whose lawyer announced that her client will return to his homeland from the Dominican Republic on April 6. Rubiales denied the allegations.