It’s rumbling in the Spanish national team. 15 players publicly rejected statements by the Spanish football federation RFEF that they had withdrawn from the national team in protest against coach Jorge Vilda. “In no way have we declared our retirement from the Spanish national team, as the RFEF claims in their official communication. As we have done in our private communications [an den Verband – Anm. d. Red.] confirmed, we are fully with the Spanish national team,” said the message from the players, which also spread world footballer Alexia Putellas via Twitter.
Rather, they had asked not to be called up for the national team until their concerns about their physical and mental well-being were resolved. They wouldn’t have called for the coach’s resignation either. It is regrettable that the association has made “private communications public in an intentionally shortened form”. 41-year-old Vilda has been the head coach of the Spanish team since 2015.
The Football Association had previously announced that the 15 players had declared their resignation from the national team in protest against Vilda – “if nothing changes”, as they wrote in identical emails to the RFEF. According to the association, the players complained that the situation in the national team was affecting their “emotional state” and their health “in an important way”.
Association threatens sanctions
The RFEF was unyielding and spoke of an “unprecedented situation in the history of football, both for men and women, in Spain and worldwide”. The association will “not allow the players to question the future of the national coach and his coaching staff”. According to the RFEF, they are not responsible for this: “Maneuvers of this type are harmful and do not correspond to the values of football and sport.”
The association pointed out that a ban of two to five years is possible if a player refuses to be called up to the national team. Such sanctions will not be applied, but those affected will only be nominated again if they admit their mistake and apologize. If necessary, youth players would be called up for the national team. Spain has qualified for next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20 to August 20, 2023).
Lots of regular players
According to information from Spanish broadcaster COPE, the players who sent emails to the association included Patri Guijarro, Mapi Leon, Sandra Panos, Aitana Bonmati, Mariona Caldentey, Ona Batlle, Lucia Garcia and Laia Aleixandri. You had been in the starting eleven in the European Championship preliminary round match against Germany in July. The DFB team had won 2-0. In the quarter-finals, the Spaniards were defeated by the eventual European champions from England.
World footballer Alexia Putellas from FC Barcelona, who missed the European Championship due to a cruciate ligament rupture and is currently recovering from the serious injury, was not one of the players who sent emails to the association, according to media reports, but supported the denial of her teammates.
US superstar Megan Rapinoe supported the protest action of the 15 Spanish players. “You have a 16th in the USA who is by your side,” wrote the former world footballer on Instagram. “When so many players stand together, it’s a powerful sign.” The Spanish national team will play their next international matches on October 7th against Sweden and on October 11th against the USA.
sn/jst (dpa, sid)
The article has been updated following the denials from the Spain internationals.
