Lucy Bronze hails 'incredible' Barcelona players after Luis Rubiales ruling | OneFootball

Chelsea and England defender Lucy Bronze has voiced her support for Jenni Hermoso and her other former Barcelona teammates after the Spanish High Court ruled Luis Rubiales guilty of sexual assault.

A High Court in Madrid has ordered Rubiales to pay a fine of €10,000 (£8,275) to Spain striker Jenni Hermoso after kissing her on the lips without consent following the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final against England.

Lionesses defender Bronze, now starring for Women's Super League leaders Chelsea, praised the strength of Hermoso and many of her former Barcelona teammates during the trial: "They are fighting for change, not just in the court case, they're also making changes in the federation. It's amazing.

"I'm good friends with a lot of the players who are involved in it, and I think from my point of view knowing them, it's been incredible that these players have had to go through that," Bronze reflected. "Not only winning the World Cup and the media on the outside of it, but they're in the court case, they're speaking out. It's incredibly brave of all the individuals and the team collectively."

"As we [England] watch on as a team, we stand by the Spanish players. We hope them all the best, we want them to get what they deserve. We want them to just enjoy their football as well, I've been there last year at Barcelona watching the players go through all the ordeals off the pitch and I think it was challenging as well for them. It would just be nice for them to get back to football, back to focussing on that because they're incredible people and incredible players as well."

Khadija Shaw has recently spoken out against racism / Cameron Smith - Danehouse/GettyImages

Many players have used their voices to spark positive change recently, following several incidents that have seen female footballers subjected to abuse and discrimination.

Bronze's former Manchester City teammate Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw was recently the victim of vile misogyny and racism following the side's WSL loss against Arsenal, while Millie Bright has also spoken out against fan abuse.

"It's something that we stand for in women's sport especially," Bronze expressed when reflecting on recent events. "I think when you watch another player do it, it gives you a little bit of something as well that you can stand up for yourself and people are hearing us.

"Everyone's using their platforms to make change and to try and be positive- I think that's something that is special about women's sport in general. We all have each other's backs, we all try to empower each other. Sadly there is that negative side to the sport in general, but the fact that we're trying to make change, we want to the world to be a better place, the sports that we play to be better places.

"To use our platforms to try and push those things forward, make change for the good for all the little girls and boys, that's something that we hold really dear to our hearts and the reason that we do want to speak out."