Spanish Female Soccer Coach Dismissed Following World Cup Triumph Kiss
The head coach of Spain's triumphant women's soccer team, Jorge Vilda, received his walking papers from the nation's soccer regulating body, RFEF, on Tuesday. The dismissal stemmed from a contentious non-consensual kiss shared between RFEF president Luis and forward Jenni Hermoso. Hermoso later stated that the gesture was neither desired nor consensual.
Following the World Cup final, Rubiales firmly maintained that the kiss was consensual and refused public demands for his resignation. He also threatened legal action against the player for her "lies." Vilda, a close associate of Rubiales, could be seen applauding this address.
A group of 81 players, including all members of the winning World Cup team, declared their refusal to compete for the national team until Rubiales was no longer in power.
Vilda was temporarily suspended from his role as RFEF president by FIFA on August 26. He had been at the helm for eight years, and Montse Tome, the first female to occupy that position, will take his place as his replacement.
The resolution was surprising in light of the recent championship victory, in which Spain defeated England 1-0 in a tough-as-nails competition at Sydney Stadium, Australia. However, the championship has been sullied by the kiss.
RFEF Publishes a Statement
The organization did not provide any insight into the reason for Vilda's dismissal, but an official RFEF statement described the move as part of their "renovation measures" in the wake of the scandal.
"We appreciate [Vilda's] work at the helm of the national team and in his roles running the women’s teams, as well as the successes we attained during his tenure, culminating with the World Cup win," the statement declared.
Alternatively, the RFEF was remarkably critical of Rubiales, apologizing for "the unacceptable conduct of its highest institutional representative during the final."
The RFEF stressed that the harm caused to Spanish soccer, Spanish sports, Spanish society, and the values of soccer and sports as a whole had been sizable.
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