The cleaver had been swinging dangerously above his head for days. It fell on Tuesday. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Tuesday the dismissal of Jorge Vilda, the coach of the women’s team, world champion last month. Close to Luis Rubiales, the suspended president of the RFEF, Vilda has not survived the turmoil that has hit football across the Pyrenees since the World Cup final on August 20 in Sydney. Shortly after La Roja’s victory over England (1-0), Rubiales kissed striker Jenni Hermoso on the mouth, by surprise.
A little earlier, the RFEF, in a letter signed by its interim president Pedro Rocha, had asked “the most sincere forgiveness from world football as a whole” for the actions of its president suspended by FIFA.
The text evokes “the totally unacceptable behavior of its highest institutional representative during the final” of the World Cup. This behavior “does not at all correspond to the values of the whole of Spanish society, its institutions, its representatives, its athletes and the leaders of Spanish sport”, indicates this letter published by the federation. “The damage caused to Spanish football, to Spanish sport, to Spanish society and to all the values of football and sport” by Rubiales’ attitude “has been enormous”.
Pushed from all sides to resign, Luis Rubiales, in a virulent speech, refused to leave his post “because of a little kiss granted” and denounced a lawsuit brought by “false feminism”. FIFA suspended him on August 26 “from all football-related activity at national and international level” for 90 days and pending the progress of the procedures in progress.
Coach Jorge Vilda in the hot seat
In its text, the Spanish federation still says it is committed to improving its “governance” in order to “repair” the damage caused and to “guarantee that this behavior does not happen again”.
The 23 players from La Roja crowned world champions in Australia have announced that they refuse to be called up for selection until there is a change at the head of the federation. Their male counterparts on Monday condemned Rubiales’ “unacceptable behavior” in a joint statement read to the press by Atlético Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.