MADRID – The Spanish men’s football team has been condemned for their belated statement in support of the women’s team after the country’s FA chief kissed a player following their World Cup win.
Verónica Boquete, a Spanish footballer who captained her national team at the World Cup in 2015, criticised her male counterparts for making a “late” statement, in which they denounced “unacceptable behaviour” by Luis Rubiales.
The men’s statement came more than two weeks after the president of the Spanish football federation (RFEF) kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips at the Fifa Women’s World Cup final.
Ms Boquete, a midfielder who lays for the the Italian side Fiorentina and has played in the Spain women’s national team, led a rebellion of Spain international players against a former manager whom they accused of being sexist and homophobic.
“I am not going to thank you for this statement because it seems very good to me but it comes just as late as that of Luis de la Fuente, that of Jorge Vilda and the rest of the people who have made their position when they see or realise what is happening,” Ms Boquete told Cadena Ser radio station.
Verónica Boquete has played for Spain’s national team (Photo: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
Luis de la Fuente, the manager of the men’s Spain side, and Jorge Vilda, the manager of the women’s team, both belatedly condemned Mr Rubiales after initially clapping his defiant refusal to resign over the matter.
Mr Rubiales, 46, has defied expectations and refused to resign as president of the RFEF after forcibly kissing Ms Hermoso on the lips.
On Monday Atletico Madrid’s Álvaro Morata, who captains the national team, read out a statement on behalf of the players, congratulating their female counterparts on “a historic” achievement.
Jorge Vilda, the manager of the women’s team, belatedly condemned Mr Rubiales after initially clapping him (Photo: Getty)
He said the men’s team “expressed their solidarity with the women players and deplored that their success had been tarnished” by Mr Rubiales at the 20 August prize-giving ceremony in Sydney.
Mr Morata added: “We want to denounce the unacceptable behaviour of Mr Rubiales, who has not lived up to the institution he represents. We are firmly on the side of the values enshrined in sport. Spanish football must be a driving force for respect, inspiration, inclusion, and diversity and must set an example with its behaviour both on and off the field.”
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However, journalists were not allowed to ask questions of the players.
Some of Spain’s international male players immediately spoke out after the World Cup final to condemn Mr Rubiales’s actions, including the striker Borja Iglesias.
“It would have been better if it had been like the initial reaction of some international players like Borja Iglesias,” Dolors Ribalta Alcalde, an expert in women’s football at the University Ramón Llull in Barcelona, told i.
Ms Hermoso has joined a mass strike of women players, saying she did not consent to the kiss.
Mr Rubiales has stood firm in refusing to stand down from his post “because of a little consensual kiss”, provoking widespread indignation.
World football’s governing body Fifa has suspended him for 90 days and launched a disciplinary inquiry into his behaviour.
Mr Rubiales is also the subject of an investigation by Spain’s sports court.
