Spain’s Women’s World Cup-winning players reach agreement to end boycott
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Twenty players who said they were boycotting the team were called up by new coach Montse Tome.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OLIVA – The Spanish Women’s World Cup-winning squad agreed to end their boycott of the national team on Wednesday, after the country’s football federation (RFEF) said it would make “immediate and profound changes” to its structure.
The decision was reached after more than seven hours of meetings at a hotel in Oliva, an hour from Valencia, involving the players, RFEF officials, the National Sports Council (CSD) and the women’s players’ union FutPro.
The players had said they would not represent Spain until there were further changes at the federation, deepening a crisis that started after former RFEF boss Luis Rubiales kissed Jennifer Hermoso on the lips
“A joint commission will be created between RFEF, CSD and players to follow up on the agreements, which will be signed tomorrow,” CSD president Victor Francos said.
“The players have expressed their concern about the need for profound changes in the RFEF, which has committed to making these changes immediately.”
Neither Francos nor Rafael del Amo, president of the RFEF committee for women’s football, elaborated on the changes to be made, only saying they would be announced “soon”.
“The players see it as a rapprochement of positions. It is the beginning of a long road ahead of us,” FutPro president Amanda Gutierrez said. “Once again, they have shown themselves to be coherent and the vast majority have decided to stay for the sake of this agreement.”
After most of the World Cup squad were selected on Monday for upcoming games, the players said in a joint statement they would take the “best decision” for their future and safety after they studied the legal implications of being included in a squad they had asked to be left out of.
They could have faced sanctions, including fines of up €30,000 (S$43,700), and the suspension of their federation licence for two to 15 years, according to Spain’s Sports Act, if they had refused the call-up.
Twenty players who said they were boycotting the team were called up by new coach Montse Tome, and while all of them reported for training on Tuesday, two decided to leave the squad for “personal reasons”. It was confirmed that Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro would not be sanctioned.
“The first thing they have been told here has been – whoever is not at ease, does not feel strong enough, should know that neither the federation nor the CSD was going to apply a sanctioning process,” Francos added.
The revolt by the players was triggered after Rubiales kissed midfielder Hermoso on the lips following Spain’s 1-0 World Cup victory over England.
She disputed his insistence that the act was consensual, sparking a national debate about sexism in sport and eventually led to his resignation.
Hermoso was not in the squad list announced by Tome and had accused the RFEF of trying to divide and manipulate the players by possible legal action.
It remains to be seen what will unfold after the agreement is signed on Thursday.
In the meantime, Spain are set to make their debut in the Uefa Women’s Nations League against Sweden in Gothenburg on Friday, before playing Switzerland in Cordoba next Tuesday. REUTERS, AFP
