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.
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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.
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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.”
World
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
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US aid contractors claim live ammo fired at Palestinians
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
Read more:
GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.
Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.
The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.
“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.
“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”
Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.
Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.
Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.
The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.
It said three children and their mother were among the dead.
Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.
On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.
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Do Trump and Netanyahu really get along?
Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.
Read more:
IDF chief says conditions ‘created’ for Gaza ceasefire
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal ?
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Lack of food and water ‘lethal’ for Gaza children
Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.
A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.
However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.
Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.
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