The new coach of the Spanish women’s national team, Montse Tomé, has named players in her squad who are currently on strike. The government is threatening to punish the players.

Spanish women’s soccer continues to descend into chaos following the kissing scandal involving the now-resigned federation president Luis Rubiales.

The new national team coach Montse Tomé, who is considered a confidant of Rubiales, has announced her squad for the upcoming international matches – and has also nominated players who had asked not to be called up.

The players are calling for the dismissal of Rubiales’s confidants.
By going on strike, the players are trying to keep the pressure on the federation high. Twenty-one members of the world championship squad and 18 other top players (some of whom were already on strike before the tournament because of the then coach Jorge Vilda) are demanding, among other things, the dismissal of RFEF interim boss Pedro Rocha and other officials close to Rubiales.

Jennifer Hermoso, who was kissed on the mouth without her consent by Rubiales after the Spanish team’s World Cup final victory in Australia, was not nominated. The player wanted to be “protected,” explained Tomé. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Hermoso asked: “Protect me from what? And from whom?”

She also accused the national association RFEF of “division” and “manipulation” in order to “intimidate us and threaten us with legal consequences and economic sanctions”.

The national coach and players contradict each other
Spain wants to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris via the Nations League. To this end, Tomé has named 15 world champions in her squad for the first two matches in the competition against Sweden on Friday and against Switzerland next Tuesday.

Tomé assured the press that he had spoken to the players. None of them refused to participate. However, the players saw it differently: they announced that they would continue their international strike.

Aitana Bonmati, who was named the best player at the World Cup, wrote on X, among other things: “[…] our firm intention not to be nominated for justified reasons […] remains fully valid.” Hermoso wrote that she fully supports the players.

The government threatens the players with penalties
The government is also putting pressure on the players: “If the players do not compete, the government, I’m sorry to say, will have to act and enforce the law,” said Victor Francos, president of the Spanish sports authority CSD. According to Spanish sports law, refusing to play despite being nominated is punishable by a fine of between €3,000 and €30,000 and a suspension of between 2 and 15 years.

This is in stark contrast to a communiqué issued by the Spanish federation on the occasion of the squad nomination. It states: “We guarantee a safe environment for the players and are committed to a climate of mutual trust in order to ensure that women’s football continues to develop in the future.”