Calm, at least provisionally, has settled in the Spanish team's concentration in Seville, where they are preparing for their next Nations League match against Switzerland, tomorrow, Tuesday. The players recognize the progress of the Federation and the future seems clearer every day. This was recognized by Alexia Putellas, double Ballon d'Or winner, who assured that “steps forward have been taken in the Federation”, and admitted to being “calmer” because she believes “that the foundations have been laid” to “seek solutions”.
The Barça soccer player gave several examples of how the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for a long time did not treat them as elite athletes. “They made us travel 6 or 7 hours by bus when the rival could travel comfortably by plane. We had to get up at 3 in the morning to catch a plane and those times are not for athletes. We need structural changes, because women's football has not been on the priority list,” she explained. The players ask for improvements but they are clear that “he who doesn't want to understand it means he doesn't want to.”
Putellas did not hide when explaining once again the players' position after Rubiales' non-consensual kiss to Jenni Hermoso. “I think everything is clear. Zero tolerance for what everyone saw. And zero tolerance towards what has not been seen and cannot be talked about and happened.” Furthermore, regarding the return of the 15 to the national team, she clarified that they are “the first ones we want to be in, but we wanted zero tolerance to come first,” she said. And he fired a bullet at the Federation: “We believe that the system failed. The Federation failed and the country failed.” The players' complaint focused “on a type of attitudes and behaviors that cannot be accepted in any work environment. And they have listened to us.” The meeting was “a turning point. “We are better,” he certified.
Regarding the situation in which Jenni Hermoso finds herself, Alexia, a close friend of the forward, said that she could “imagine what Jenni has suffered. But what was in our hands was to support our colleague and report these situations. We couldn't leave her alone, we had to draw strength from wherever we could. She was in a complicated situation and as the days went by it became even worse. We had to empathize with her and we had the strength and energy to prevent this from happening again. “We would have done the same with any partner,” she noted.
Finally, she clarified that “the departure of –Jorge- Vilda”, the coach with whom they were world champions– “has been decided by the Federation”, so “it was not a question” that the group of players “transmitted whether is valid or not.” “I don't know why they fired Jorge. Many things are said on the street and in the media. We transmit the feelings of the players, to him first. Everything was transferred to the Federation with what happened, from there they make decisions,” he concluded.
Irene Paredes, captain of the national team again, explained with some discomfort what the return to a call-up was like: “We didn't want to come, it's true. Then we came and had several meetings. We let Montse know. There was some misunderstanding,” she stressed. And she was clear when explaining that “we cannot give all the details and point out people because there is an open judicial process, but we cannot tolerate what happened. We want it to serve as a positive precedent. “We have been treated like children and we are all adults,” she criticized.
Athenea del Castillo, another of the protagonists this week, said she supported “Jenni. From there to not wanting to come to the national team was not part of my plans. Secluded? No. The atmosphere has been as always. Freedom of expression is like that. “They supported my position and I supported theirs,” she said.
For his part, Cata Coll stressed that “the waters are calming,” but criticized the attitude of some of the environment. “They told us that we were capricious, that we didn't want to play... we put a stitch in those people's mouths. The worst thing was that if he didn't come he could stop playing football. I saw the end of my career when I was 22 years old and that cannot be.”
