Spain’s soccer world champions go on the barricades against the national association RFEF and its controversial president Luis Rubiales.
The 23 players who won the World Cup final in Sydney last Sunday no longer want to play for their country under the current leadership of the association.
“After everything that happened at the Women’s World Cup medal ceremony, all the players who have signed this text will not honor a next call-up if the current lead is maintained,” the world champions wrote in a statement released by players’ union Futpro on Friday. They put themselves together behind Jennifer Hermoso. In total, 81 current and former Spanish players signed the letter.
Hermoso contradicts the representation of the association
The offensive player Hermoso also vigorously contradicted the association’s statement on Friday that the kiss with Rubiales at the award ceremony was consensual. The RFEF had spread this a few hours after the final – and quoted the 33-year-old verbosely.
On Friday, her quotes read completely differently. “I want to make it very clear that at no point did I agree to the kiss he (Rubiales; ed.) gave me, nor did I try to approach the President,” Hermoso explained via Futpro: “I will not allow my word to be questioned, much less invent something I did not say.”
Rubiales does not want to resign
Rubiales apologized the day after the final, but declined to take any further action. At an extraordinary general meeting of the RFEF on Friday, the 46-year-old refused to step down from the presidency despite global outrage.
