Less than four weeks after the victory in the World Cup final in Sydney against England (1-0), Spain’s women’s football continues to resemble a powder keg with various fuses. Almost 40 top players informed the RFEF association and the public on Friday that they wanted to stick to the boycott of the national team, which they declared in August, shortly after the affair broke out surrounding the association’s head Luis Rubiales, who resigned on Monday.
After it was said in the morning that the boycott would be supported by all 23 members of the Spanish World Cup squad, two players dropped out: Athenea del Castillo and Claudia Zornoza neither supported the strike nor various demands for resignation. Among other things, the resignation of the interim president Pedro Rocha is demanded.
At the same time, Rubiales, 46, who resigned on Monday because of the “kissing affair”, had to testify as a defendant before the Supreme Court in Madrid. The public prosecutor’s office considered the long-famous kiss he placed on the lips of world champion Jenni Hermoso, 33, at the award ceremony as a sexual assault and wants to see him in the dock. The public prosecutor’s office and Hermoso’s lawyer asked the court on Friday to temporarily impose a no-contact order on Rubiales. He should stay at least 500 meters away from Hermoso and report to the judiciary every 15 days. There was initially no decision on the applications.
Many players accuse the now fired coach of control mania and incompetence
But Friday was mainly characterized by chaos surrounding the women’s team – and by the problems of the new national coach Montse Tomé, a team for the upcoming Nations League games in Sweden (September 22nd/Gothenburg) and against Switzerland (September 26th/ Córdoba). The squad announcement, originally scheduled for 4 p.m., was postponed until further notice on Friday afternoon. These games are, among other things, about qualifying for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Spain has never taken part in an Olympic tournament with a women’s football team.
One of the peculiarities of the situation is that Spanish citizens are legally obliged to follow official recruitment for national teams. A refusal to perform patriotic services can include, among other things, bans of two to fifteen years, a fine of up to 30,000 euros per player and a ban on entering sports facilities. These clauses are intended in particular to counteract possible boycotts of Spanish national teams by athletes from regions such as the Basque Country and Catalonia, where there are strong separatist currents.
Spain’s elite players met in a video conference late on Thursday evening and allegedly agreed on a common manifesto well after midnight. The conference participants included the 23 world champions, twelve players who rebelled against Tomé’s predecessor and later world champion coach Jorge Vilda a year ago and did not go to the World Cup, other professionals and representatives of the female footballers’ union “Futpro”. Said communiqué was originally scheduled to be released on Friday morning. But that was delayed until the afternoon. The common front was crumbling.
The national players are calling for further consequences in the association
Of course, the overwhelming criticism remained. The world champions are dissatisfied with how the association has dealt with the Rubiales affair so far. Only after much hesitation – and with accusations of lies against Hermoso – did Rubiales agree to vacate his place at the top of the RFEF last Monday. A few days earlier, Tomé had replaced coach Vilda, who had been controversial long before the World Cup. Last year, a total of 15 players accused him of control mania and incompetence as a coach.
In their communiqué, the players called for further personnel consequences in the association – and a “zero tolerance policy” against those people who themselves “showed attitudes, incited them, swept them under the carpet or applauded” who were “against the dignity of women judge”.
Among other things, in addition to replacing the interim president, they are calling for the “restructuring” of women’s football, the executive board and the communications department. Both Rocha and Secretary General Andreu Camps were considered former President Rubiales’ most important confidants. Press department employees were targeted because they were accused of putting soothing quotes about Rubiales’ famous kiss in Hermoso’s mouth and sending them to Spanish news agencies without their knowledge. The affected employees reject the allegations.
In any case, the personnel changes in the association so far are not sufficient to give the players the feeling that they are “in a safe place,” “where women are respected, women’s football is relied upon and we can perform to the maximum,” said the communiqué.
