Striking Spanish internationals called up to the women’s team on Monday reiterated their desire not to form part of the squad in a new blow for the shaken the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
However, they were told by the government early yesterday that those who did not attend the team’s camps when called up would have to be punished.
Spanish National Sports Council president Victor Francos said he would have to apply the country’s sports law.
Photo: AP
“If they don’t turn up, the government would have to apply the law, which is a pity for me, but the law is the law,” Francos told radio station Cadena Ser.
Spain’s sports law from last year states that athletes must attend national team call-ups when summoned, and not doing so would be a “very serious” infraction.
The potential fines range between 3,000 euros and 30,000 euros (US$3,212 to US$32,121), while they could also lose their licenses to play altogether, for up to five years.
New coach Montse Tome called up 15 of the Women’s World Cup winners for UEFA Women’s Nations League matches, most of whom had said they did not want to play for their country until wider changes had been made at the federation.
Former federation president Luis Rubiales resigned three weeks after he kissed midfielder Jenni Hermoso following Spain’s triumph in Sydney on Aug. 20, after receiving an unprecedented worldwide backlash.
More than 80 Spain players went on strike after the incident, and despite Rubiales’ resignation and controversial coach Jorge Vilda being sacked, 39 players maintained their stance in a statement late on Monday, demanding more structural change.
Tome did not select Hermoso, 33, in the squad, saying it was to protect her.
“Protect me from what? And from whom?” Hermoso wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Hermoso said the players had been “caught by surprise” by the call-ups, and were forced to react to “another unfortunate situation caused by the people who continue to make decision within the RFEF.”
“The players are certain that this is yet another strategy of division and manipulation to intimidate and threaten us with legal repercussion and economic sanctions,” the 33-year-old striker said. “It is yet more irrefutable proof that shows that even today, nothing has changed.”
Tome said she left Hermoso out of the squad for her own good.
“We are with Jenni on everything, and with all the players,” she said. “The best way to protect her is like this, I have worked five years with her.”
The players called up by Tome who were in the 39 all published a statement on social media, including two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas.
“[We made] clear ... our firm will not to be summoned for justified reasons. These statements are still fully valid,” the Spain players said in their statement.
The players said they would study the potential legal actions they would be exposed to because of the RFEF selecting them.
Spanish media reports say players could lose their licenses to play for multiple years if they do not obey the call-up.
They also said in the statement that they believe the squad not being named soon enough according to FIFA regulations meant the federation “would not be able to demand” that players are called up.
“We regret that once more our federation has put us in a position in which we never wanted to be in,” the players added.
Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro and Amaiur Sarriegi were also named in the squad, despite being part of a protest that began before the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which they did not play in, and forming part of the 39 players still striking.
“Everything keeps getting worse in the RFEF,” former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas wrote on social media.
Additional reporting by Reuters
BASEBALL LEGEND: Sadaharu Oh, who flew against his doctor’s advice to throw the first pitch at the Taipei Dome, said he had high expectations for baseball in Taiwan Taiwan yesterday defeated South Korea 4-0 in the opening game of the Asian Baseball Championship in front of a crowd of more than 16,000 at the newly opened Taipei Dome. The team was led by a starting pitcher Hsu Ruo-hsi, who in a dominant performance recroded 10 strikeouts and allowed only two hits in seven scoreless innings on the mound. Eighteen-year-old Sun I-lei came to close out the final two innings, ensuring that Taiwan hung on to their four-run lead, after scoring three runs in the third inning and another in the fourth. The eight-day championship is to take place
NIGHT OF FIRSTS: In the first official game at the Tapei Dome on Sunday, not only did Taiwan notch a win over South Korea, they also recorded the stadium’s first hit and RBI The Philippines yesterday dominated Thailand 14-4 at the Taipei Dome in the opening game of Group B on the second day of the Asian Baseball Championship, while Palestine pipped Hong Kong 3-1 in Taichung in Group A. World No. 35 the Philippines put themselves on the board early, racking up two runs in the first inning, followed by two in the third, one each in the fourth and fifth, and three in the sixth. Thailand, ranked 43rd in the world, did not get on the board until the top of the seventh inning, when they tried to stage a comeback, putting up
TROUNCED: Taiwan beat Palestine in six innnings on day three of the Asia Baseball Championship, while it took just five innings for Japan to defeat Thailand Taiwan yesterday beat Palestine 19-0 at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on the third day of the Asian Baseball Championship. The Group A game was over in six innings after a 6:03pm start. Taiwan went on the offensive from the first inning, scoring three runs, but the real damage was done in the third inning, when they scored seven. The Palestine players are all studying or working in the US. In another duel between two unevenly matched teams, Japan thrashed Thailand 16-0 in their late Group B game at the Taipei Dome. They won in five innings thanks to the mercy rule, which states
NATIONS LEAGUE: England crushed Scotland 6-0, but their Olympic hopes were ruined when the Netherlands beat them on goal difference with a 4-0 win against Belgium Germany and the Netherlands on Tuesday booked their places at the UEFA Women’s Nations League finals , where they are also to fight for spots at next year’s Paris Games, but there was heartbreak for England whose hopes of competing in the Olympics were dashed, despite beating Scotland 6-0. Germany drew 0-0 in Wales, but secured their passage thanks to Iceland’s 1-0 win over Denmark. The Netherlands needed a 95th-minute goal from Damaris Egurrola to see them to a 4-0 win over Belgium which meant they edged England on goal difference in Group A1 after the FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up hammered