The Spanish national team continues to generate scandals

The loud scandal caused by the kiss that the President of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales awarded to the Spanish women’s national football team player Jennifer Hermoso at the World Cup gold ceremony for the Spanish women still does not subside. Mr. Rubiales has already lost his post, the head coach of the Spanish team, Jorge Wilda, is left without a job, and passions are only flaring up. The scandal received another impetus after the new coach of the Spanish national team, Montserrat Thomé, called up to the team, which will play Nations League matches at the end of the month, a dozen and a half football players who had previously stated that they would not play in the national team until their demands were met. And only six of them, under threat of sanctions (all players from Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid), came to the team’s location. The rest continue to be stubborn.

The Spanish women’s national football team, whose existence few people paid attention to until the end of August, when it won the World Cup for the first time in its history, continues to create scandals. The first and main one appeared, let us remind you, at the ceremony of awarding the Spanish women gold medals at the World Championships. In it, RFEF President Luis Rubiales kissed team captain Jennifer Hermoso on the lips. For this, Mr. Rubiales was subjected to widespread international condemnation and was eventually forced to resign. The head coach of the Spanish national team, Jorge Wilda, also lost his job.

The players of the Spanish team, however, were not satisfied with this. They demanded some institutional changes in the RFEF (the football players have not yet deciphered what they mean). Members of the championship team, joined by other players (81 people in total), stated that they would not play for the national team until their demands were met. Note that for Spanish women a strike is a normal condition. They were capricious in exactly the same way last year, outraged by the “authoritarian” methods of work of Jorge Vilda. And then, under his leadership, they won the World Championship. Before the start of this season’s Spanish club championship, the female players said they would not take to the field unless their demands for a salary increase were met. The parties eventually managed to work out a compromise.

However, it seems that the whims of the football players have already tired the RFEF. The Spanish national team will have matches against the teams of Sweden and Switzerland in the Nations League on September 22 and 26. The new head coach of the Spanish national team, Montserrat Thomé, has called up more than two dozen players to the team. Of these, 15 were members of the team that competed at the World Championships. It is noteworthy that Jennifer Hermoso remained outside the national team. Ms Tome explained her decision not to call up Spain’s most famous football player with the intention of protecting her. In response, Ms. Hermoso, in a statement she released, wondered what and from whom they were going to protect her.

Be that as it may, the unity of the striking football players quickly began to crack at the seams. At least six players who participated in the World Cup and previously announced joining the boycott arrived at the national team base. Five of them, including Olga Carmona, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final (the Spanish team beat England with a minimal score), represent Real Madrid. Another one plays for Atletico Madrid. The football players were met at the team base by journalists who were interested in whether the ladies were happy about the challenge. Everyone who answered the question said no.

It seems that RFEF has found a very effective way to influence rebellious female football players, especially since Spanish legislation provides one. According to the law, failure to appear in the national team without a good reason can lead to disqualification (up to five years) and/or a fine of €3 thousand to €30 thousand. A strong argument in a dispute with female football players, whose annual salary at the club is often comparable to the above fine amount .

However, the confrontation will obviously continue. On the social network X (formerly known as Twitter), the players of the Spanish national team posted a message in which they noted that the call to the national team happened at the wrong time and in violation of the rules. “We believe that the RFEF does not have the right to demand that we report to the team,” the authors of the message said.

Alexander Petrov