Spanish women’s football team manager sacked in forced kiss fallout

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Spain’s football association has sacked the manager who helped the country’s women win the World Cup in the wake of the scandal over an unwanted kiss by its suspended president Luis Rubiales.

Jorge Vilda, the coach who was close to disgraced football chief Rubiales, was dismissed on Tuesday by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, which praised his “impeccable” conduct in a positive statement.

The federation did not mention the kiss that Rubiales, who has been suspended as its chief by Fifa, planted on the lips of player Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony after the final, instead focusing on Vilda’s “crowning achievement” in managing the victorious women’s team.

Vilda had close ties to Rubiales and had repeatedly expressed his gratitude to him for his support, including during a tumultuous period last year when 15 female players rebelled against Vilda over his management style. Most of those players were left out of the World Cup squad. Spain beat England 1-0 in the final in Sydney, Australia last month.

In a speech a few days after the final in which Rubiales called himself a victim of “false feminism” and refused to resign over the non-consensual kiss, he told Vilda publicly that he would be given another four years in the job and earn €500,000 a year. “You deserve it,” Rubiales said.

Rubiales’ actions sparked debate about toxic masculinity and the way leading figures in football treat female players, who are paid fractions of the sums earned by top male players. On the eve of the final, Fifa president Gianni Infantino was heavily criticised for advising women to “pick the right battles” to achieve equality on issues such as pay.

The move by the federation — led by interim president Pedro Rocha — reflects its desire to draw a line under the scandal, although the Spanish government still faces obstacles in its efforts to eject Rubiales from his role permanently.

In a statement after Rubiales’ defiant speech, Vilda said: “I deeply regret that the victory of Spanish women’s football has been harmed by the improper behaviour of our former head, Luis Rubiales, which he himself has acknowledged.”

But Vilda did not apologise for standing to applaud Rubiales during his speech.

In its announcement on Tuesday, the federation said: “The RFEF would like to express its gratitude to Jorge Vilda for his services, his professionalism and his dedication during all these years, wishing him every success in the future.”

Rubiales has been suspended as Spain’s football chief for 90 days by Fifa, the game’s world governing body. But the Spanish government does not have the power to fire him and is running into hurdles in its efforts to force him out permanently by filing complaints against him to a sports tribunal.

Fifa has pledged to introduce equal prize money by the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups. Fifpro, the players’ union, has also campaigned for improved conditions and prize money in the women’s game.

However, clubs, which allocate most resources to and generate the vast majority of their revenues from men’s football, pay far less to women than to men. A Fifa report in 2022 found that paid female football players received an average salary of only $14,000 a year.

Infantino warned that paying equal prize money at World Cups was only part of the problem that must be solved to achieve equality.

“It’s one month every four years and it’s a few players out of the thousands and thousands of players,” Fifa’s president said. “We need to go for equality but we have to do it for real.”