Sep 21, 2023 at 9:22 PM Update: 18 minutes ago
Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes hope that the commotion surrounding the Spanish football team will eventually bring about structural changes at the national association. The players find it bizarre that it took so long.
Despite a boycott, the new national coach Montserrat Tomé had called up 23 players for the upcoming Nations League matches. Fearing sanctions and against their wishes, the players joined the national team. After conversations late into the night, the air now seems to have cleared.
“We are extremely tired because of all the conversations and vicissitudes. We have hardly slept in recent weeks,” FC Barcelona midfielder Putellas said at a press conference on Thursday. “We are still angry, because the meeting was not announced either. But I am confident that we have made good agreements.”
Six to nine high-ranking officials are reportedly being forced to leave the Spanish Football Federation due to the deal struck by the Spanish internationals to play for their country again.
“Some things have already improved, but the end of the tunnel is not yet in sight,” added FC Barcelona defender Paredes. “We still have a long way to go, but at least we got a voice.”
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Putellas: ‘This should never happen again’
The players not only find the kiss by the now departed chairman Luis Rubiales on the mouth of player Jennifer Hermoso after the World Cup final unacceptable. The duo is also critical of the way the association handled the riot.
“We have long wanted change within the union, because women have been discriminated against for decades,” Putellas said. “Some unacceptable things happened at the World Cup. Rubiales’ speech at the association meeting – to the effect that he refused to leave – was the final straw.”
“We absolutely do not accept what happened to Jennifer and to us,” said the World Footballer of the Year. “To be clear: Jenni is the victim here. We all support her. What she has gone through is unacceptable. This must never happen again.”
The FC Barcelona player is happy that the association is making some changes. “We are angry, but we trust that the agreements now made will make our sport and society better,” said Putellas, who called for zero tolerance towards any form of abuse.
2023-09-21 19:22:00
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