The new national coach of the Spanish women’s national team, Montse Tomé, has named players to her squad who are currently on strike. The government is threatening to punish the footballers.
Spanish women’s soccer continues to sink into chaos following the kissing scandal surrounding the now resigned association president Luis Rubiales.
The new national coach Montse Tomé, who is considered a confidante of Rubiales, has published her squad for the upcoming international matches – and has also nominated players who had asked not to be called up.
The players demand the dismissal of Rubiales’ confidants
With their international strike, the footballers want to keep up the pressure on the association. 21 members of the world champion 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 head Pedro Rocha and other officials close to Rubiales.
Jennifer Hermoso, who was kissed on the mouth by Rubiales without her consent after Spain’s victory in the World Cup final in Australia, was not nominated. They wanted to “protect” the player, explained Tomé. In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Hermoso asked: “Protect me from what? And from whom?”
She also accused the national federation RFEF of “division” and “manipulation” in order to “intimidate us and threaten us with legal consequences and economic sanctions”.
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 of 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 had refused to take part. However, the players took a different view: they announced that they would continue their international strike.
Aitana Bonmati, who was voted the best player at the World Cup, wrote on X, among other things: “[…] our firm will not to be nominated for legitimate reasons […] remains in full force.” Hermoso wrote that she was fully on the side of the players.
The government threatens the players with penalties
The government is also putting pressure on the footballers: “If the players do not compete, I am sorry to say that the government must act and enforce the law,” said Victor Francos, President of Spain’s highest sports authority, the CSD. According to Spanish sports law, refusing to compete despite being nominated is punishable by a fine of between 3,000 and 30,000 euros and can result in a ban of between 2 and 15 years.
This contrasts sharply with a communiqué issued by the Spanish FA on the occasion of the squad nomination. It states: “We guarantee the players a safe environment and are committed to creating a climate of mutual trust in order to work together to ensure that women’s soccer develops even more strongly in the future. “