Rubiales affair: the coach of the Spanish women's team, Jorge Vilda, sacked

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: FRANCK FIFE / AFP 17:46 pm, September 05, 2023

The coach of the Spanish women's football team, Jorge Vilda, close to Luis Rubiales and whose methods have been criticized by his players, was dismissed Tuesday from his duties, announced the Spanish federation (RFEF). The RFEF said in a statement "to part ways with Jorge Vilda as sporting director and coach of the women's national team".

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This dismissal was presented by the federation as "one of the first restructuring measures" following the Rubiales affair that plunged Spanish football into chaos.

A coach already shaken by a rebellion of his players last year

The federation's suspended president, Luis Rubiales, provoked international outrage by kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth by surprise after La Roja's World Cup victory on August 20. Close to Rubiales, Vilda has been in the hot seat ever since. In protest, the majority of its staff resigned while the 23 world champions announced that they would no longer play for the selection until the management of the federation changed.

The coach of the women's Roja, in office since 2015, had already been shaken last year by an unprecedented rebellion of several of his players who reproached him for his methods and no longer wanted to wear the jersey of La Roja as long as he remained in charge of the team. He was then supported by Rubiales.

The Spanish Federation "asks forgiveness" from the "world of football"

Shortly before the announcement of Jorge Vilda's dismissal, the Spanish Football Federation "apologized" to the "world of football and society as a whole" for the "unacceptable" behavior of its president Luis Rubiales. In a letter signed by its interim president Pedro Rocha, the federation "most sincerely apologizes to world football as a whole (...) for the totally unacceptable behaviour of its highest institutional representative during the final of the Women's World Cup on 20 August in Sydney.

This behavior "does not correspond at all to the values of the whole of Spanish society, its institutions, its representatives, its athletes and the leaders of Spanish sport," said the letter published by the federation. "The damage done to Spanish football, Spanish sport, Spanish society and all the values of football and sport" by Rubiales' attitude "has been enormous," the federation said.