Spain’s women footballers say boycott remains despite call-up after World Cup kiss scandal
Spain’s women footballers have insisted again they will not play for the national side.
It comes after 15 players who were in the World Cup-winning squad were selected by the new head coach for the upcoming Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, with training to begin tomorrow.
They have stopped short of saying they will not play in the matches but pointed to a previous statement saying they would not play for their country.
The statement came hours after it was revealed Jenni Hermoso had not been picked in Spain’s first squad since the World Cup kiss scandal erupted.
The players said they would study the “possible legal consequences” to which Spain’s football association exposes them and make the “best decision” for their future and health.
Should they refuse, the players could face sanctions including fines of up €30,000 ($32,000) and the suspension of their federation licence for two to 15 years, according to Spain’s Sports Act.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Hermoso left out Spanish squad ‘to protect her’
Montse Tome, the new head coach, said she had talked to Hermoso, 33, and decided not to include her in order to “protect her”.
Hermoso was kissed on the lips by Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales after the country won the Women’s World Cup.
Rubiales’ behaviour caused a huge crisis, with Hermoso insisting she did not consent to the kiss.
The incident happened during celebrations after the national side beat England 1-0 in the Sydney final on 20 August, with the whole World Cup-winning team then going on strike in protest.
Luis Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips after Spain’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final
On Monday Tome said she had spoken to all the World Cup-winning players who she picked and expected them to report to training camp on Tuesday.
She said no player had asked not to be called up.
Tome, who was an assistant at the Women’s World Cup to ex-coach Jorge Vilda, did not say whether it was Hermoso who asked not to be called up.
Also missing are captain Ivana Andres, Irene Guerrero, Mariona Caldentey, Laia Codina, Alba Redondo, Rocio Galvez and Claudia Zornoza.
Jenni Hermoso had a penalty saved during the Women’s World Cup final
The team has called for wide-ranging reforms and new leadership as Rubiales initially refused to resign before later quitting on 10 September.
Last Friday, 21 of the 23 Spanish players involved in the tournament – including Hermoso – said his resignation was not enough to trigger their return to national-team duty, and they demanded further change in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
World Cup winners do not feel heard
This does not look like the “climate of mutual trust”, the Spanish federation pledged to create with their players at the start of the day.
They were still summoned – against their wishes – to play for the national team when the delayed squad announcement came.
Refusing to play against Sweden on Friday could see the players fined €30,000 or banned under Spain’s sports law.
.
Are the concerns of the World Cup winners really being taken seriously?
Concerns that were apparent long before the grab and kiss by Luis Rubiales which Jenni Hermoso says she did not consent to on the World Cup final podium.
Concerns that saw a dozen of the players who quit international duty a year ago refuse to go to the tournament.
Rubiales did finally quit. National team coach Jorge Vilda has been dismissed. But his former assistant, Montse Tome, is now in temporary charge.
The cleanout the players want is yet to happen.
That is why they made clear on Friday that they did not feel safe playing for their country without sweeping changes.
It was the latest statement withdrawing their services for a country that has let them down.
And still, players who should be celebrating a career high do not feel listened to.
“The changes made are not enough for the players to feel safe, where women are respected, where there is support for women’s football and where we can maximise our potential,” they wrote.
That same day, Rubiales was given a restraining order after sexual assault allegations by Hermoso following the kiss.
A judge banned the former president of the Spanish FA from contacting the player or going within 200m of her.
Read more:
Who is Luis Rubiales?
What did Rubiales and Hermoso say in kiss row?
Luis Rubiales has been given a restraining order
‘We stand with Jenni’
Tome suggested Hermoso would return to the team in the future.
“We stand with Jenni,” Tome told a news conference. “We believe that the best way to protect her is like this, but we are counting on Jenni.
“I believe this was the best way to protect her.”
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
Read more:
Israeli pilots’ letter reveals deepening rift
Seriously ill children from Gaza allowed into UK
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway