And Spanish women’s basketball exploded. The last Sunday, Marta Xargay, one of the major references of the selection in the last decade, denounced that the treatment suffered by Lucas Mondelo had caused him serious eating disorders diagnosed as bulimia and orthorexia (compulsive obsession with healthy eating). “There are limits that must not be crossed and he took me to a very heavy limit (…) It is hard … I have had many problems with food because of this person,” said the player in an interview with ‘El País’. As the information reflects, a call from Jorge Garbajosa, president of the Spanish Basketball Federation, to Xargay facilitated that the publication of the article was delayed until the end of the Tokyo 2020 championship.
The Spanish women’s team completed a major tournament at the Olympics in a transitional summer. Three locker room heavyweights had left the national team in the past year. Xargay left claiming personal reasons, Laura Nicholls assured that she needed time for herself and Anna Cruz was the only one who, despite not mentioning him in his farewell, did point out Lucas Mondelo in his public resignation: “It is no longer my family, the family is not treated like that”. Even with these losses, indispensable in the most recent successes of the team, Spain managed to give a good image in Tokyo, falling in the quarterfinals against France in an even duel.
Agencies
Then the decision of the Federation about the position of Mondelo surprised, who was fired in a sudden way. The organism took advantage of “one of the clauses of its contract in the non-achievement of the sporting objectives”. The team did not fight for the medals either in the Valencia Eurobasket or in the Olympic Games. Shortly before his dismissal, the coach himself showed on social networks his willingness to continue in office and fulfill his contract (it was renewed last October 2020 until 2024): “These have been difficult times, we have incorporated young players, covid 19, injuries and yet we have stood up and competed until the last minute. We will return to where we were, my commitment is with the project ”. The chronology of events forced the Federation to give explanations. The agency alleged that, when the delay of the publication was requested so as not to break the dynamics of the team in Tokyo, the seriousness of what Xargay was going to tell was unknown.
From the well-known tension in the locker room to the serious Xargay case
In the account of Marta Xargay there are hard episodes and unacceptable to assimilate even in a context of maximum competition. For example, Mondelo made humiliating comments to her and Sonja Petrovic, her partner in the Dynamo de Kursk led by the Spanish coach in the 2018/19 season: “He told us that we didn’t have dessert because we were fat”. This deal ended up causing serious eating disorders in Xargay, which is why he put basketball aside to focus on his physical and mental health. “I tell it because I think I can help many girls who are going through the same thing,” she explained.
The Federation showed its support to the player through a statement, in addition to excusing her request to postpone the publication of the interview: “If it had been able to know what is now being denounced, the Spanish Basketball Federation would not have kept Lucas Mondelo in the position of selector, even if it was hours before the start of the Olympic Games ”. Yes, the body that knew “wear and tear” admitted of the relationship between the coach and the players, something that had been valued in the termination of their contract. In statements collected by the federation itself, Marta assured that the entity “was not aware of what was happening to me and I want to thank the support they have always given me, as well as my teammates and the rest of the team’s coaching staff.”
Lucas Mondelo was, until now, synonymous with successes in Spanish women’s basketball. Architect of the Golden Age. His resume has three European golds (2013, 2019 and 2019), two silver (2014 World Cup and the Olympic one in Rio 2016) and two bronzes (EuroBasket 2015 and 2018 World Cup), also surpassing 150 games as a national coach. Considered a genius of the board, his path to sporting glory was punctuated by attitudes that caused suspicion in the dressing room. But never with a background as bitter as that described by Xargay. A behavior crossed out by Jose Manuel Franco, president of the Higher Sports Council, as “despicable and unacceptable.”
One of the reasons that had caused the wear between Mondelo and the dressing room in recent times was due to the excess of prominence of the coach, according to the vision of the players. In addition, the management of this transition period in the national team had meant a break with some of the veterans, who did not feel respected. “It is a pity that the leadership of this team has not been used in a consistent way and is used, at times, to hurt people who have taken chestnuts out of the fire more than once”Anna Cruz assured in her farewell letter. Xargay’s bravery opens a period of necessary reflection within Spanish basketball, which must find the tools to deal with these types of situations. Mondelo, for his part, is silent.
