Despite the resignation of the president of the soccer federation and a new head coach, the players of the Spanish women’s national soccer team have decided to continue boycotting the national team’s call-ups, demanding a greater overhaul of the organization.
The players of the Spanish women’s national soccer team released a joint statement shortly after the new coach, Montserrat Tome, a woman, announced the call-up list on Sept. 18 (local time), saying they would continue their boycott of the national team. “We will legally challenge the FA’s inclusion of us in the roster even though we have already announced that we will not participate,” they said, adding, “We regret that the FA has put us in a situation where we do not want to be.”
Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in July and August. However, during the victory ceremony, former Fifa president Luis Rubiales resigned following a major controversy over his forcible kiss of player Henipher Hermoso. In response, a total of 81 Spanish women’s professional soccer players, including those who represented the country at the time, announced that they would refuse to play for the national team. On March 15, 39 players, including 21 of the 23 World Cup winners, issued a joint statement saying they would continue their boycott. Fifteen of the 21 members of the World Cup winning squad were included in the list announced by Tome today. 스포츠토토
The federation fired coach Jorge Bilda, who had been widely criticized by players for his coaching style, and installed Tome as the first female head coach in the country’s history, and former president Rubiales, who had refused to leave, eventually stepped down.
However, the players have continued their boycott, demanding an overhaul of the national team staff and the reorganization of certain departments within the federation. They also want acting president Pedro Rocha to resign.
The players’ refusal to comply with the call-up has put the Spanish women’s national team’s September A-match trials in jeopardy. Spain will play their UEFA Women’s Nations League group stage matches against Sweden on Sept. 22 and Switzerland on Sept. 26.