(Madrid) The Spanish internationals on strike since the Rubiales affair called by the new coach Montse Tomé finally went to the women’s team meeting on Tuesday, although they said they did not want to play again until a total overhaul of their federation did not take place.
According to the Spanish press, which counted the arrivals of the players one by one at the Oliva training camp, near Valencia, all the strikers on the Montse Tomé list, including Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati, arrived at the rally . All that would be missing is Esther Gonzalez, injured and unavailable according to several media.
The latter demanded profound structural changes within the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), reaffirming their desire not to be summoned, while saying they were assessing the “possible legal consequences” of a refusal to respond to this call.
FC Barcelona defender Mapi Leon, who has been denouncing the dysfunctions of Spanish women’s soccer for months, but is not one of the strikers, believes she was forced to join the rally.
Any player who refused the summons risked sanctions under Spanish sports law. “We have to discuss at length whether we come to a safe place or not when we were forced to come,” she told reporters at Valencia airport, before heading to the Oliva camp .
Same response for Alexia Putellas, who joined her teammates from Barcelona airport, when a journalist asked her how the players were feeling. “Ben, mal” whispered the Catalan.
“If the players do not show up, the government must apply the law,” warned the president of the Superior Sports Council (CSD) Victor Francos on Cadena Ser radio.
Spain’s 2022 sports law states that failing to attend national team call-ups constitutes a “very serious” offense. Potential fines range from 3,000 to 30,000 euros, and players can even lose their license for up to five years.
Victor Francos, also Secretary of State for Sports, was to meet with the players in the evening to try to get out of the crisis, sources close to the CSD confirmed to AFP.
“Come and we commit to making what you ask possible,” Mr. Francos later told Spanish public television, adding that “if a player does not feel comfortable […] the most normal thing is that she is not summoned and that another is”, excluding the possibility of a sanction.
Coach Montse Tomé created a surprise on Monday by announcing a list of fifteen world champions and other players, who had asked not to be selected pending a total overhaul of the Federation, but not Jenni Hermoso.
Dismissed by Tomé “to protect her”, Hermoso accused the Spanish federation of “intimidating and threatening” the world champions. Reacting to the coach’s comments, the N.10 asked: “Protect me from what, or who? “.
“Protect her from what? If all goes well…” quipped Putellas before his flight to Valencia.
“The RFEF has no right to deprive Spain of its women’s national team, especially after winning a World Cup,” Spanish Culture and Sports Minister Miquel Iceta said on Tuesday, demanding that the Spanish Federation to be “a place of security, competitiveness and professionalism. »
In addition to government support, the world champions received that of their future opponents. “If they feel that they have to boycott for something to happen, it is clear that we support them,” assured Swedish international Filippa Angeldahl.
Goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl wrote on X that she expected “UEFA and FIFA to protect the players in the game they supervise rather than add pressure. »
Spain is scheduled to face Sweden on Friday and Switzerland on September 26 in the Nations League, a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and plans to fly to Sweden on Thursday.
