Spain are luxuriating in the glow of their World Cup victory on Sunday, but their win was followed quickly by controversy.
During the celebrations, RFEF President Luis Rubiales was panned for kissing star forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips, and after the match the social media of the women’s national team attracted plenty of ire.
☝️ 𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗔 𝗜𝗡. pic.twitter.com/qmOJbNhAID
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) August 20, 2023
They tweeted out a picture of Manager Jorge Vilda posing with the World Cup alongside the caption of ‘Vilda IN’. This is a reference to tweets from some exiled Spain players, and in general from segments of the Spanish public tweeting ‘Vilda OUT’ in the past.
Given that he's been accused of abusive and toxic behavior, prompting 12 players to refuse Spanish national team call-ups, this is pretty gross. Shows a lot about the culture within RFEF.
When the whistle blew, I couldn't help but think of those players. My heart breaks for them https://t.co/d747KQWsxY
— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) August 20, 2023
Vilda has a complicated relationship with many Spain stars to say the least, with 12 players holding out from selection ahead of the tournament and missing out on their World Cup win on principal. That includes the likes of Barcelona stars ‘Mapi’ Leon and Patri Guijarro, as well as Real Sociedad striker Amaiur Sarriegi.
Congrats to Spain’s players for winning the Women’s World Cup, a very talented team who were better on the day.
But it’s so disheartening to see RFEF already using the win to validate abusive behaviour. Solidarity with the players who have sacrificed this moment because of that https://t.co/ocW4L14uvx
— Nancy Gillen @ FIFA WWC 🇦🇺 (@Nancy_Gillen) August 20, 2023
The reason for their hold-out is the fact that they believe conditions are not fit for them Equally Vilda has been accused of toxic and sexist behaviour in recent years.
It appears Vilda will be sticking around for some time though, with the Olympics in Paris next year on the way. Vilda intends to stay on, while RFEF President Luis Rubiales has not committed to anything, but did say after the match that he would ‘let the people work’.
