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Having earned a spot in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Spain women’s national soccer team should be booking plane tickets to Australia and preparing for its upcoming friendlies. However, in a move that could certainly jeopardize La Roja’s title chances, 15 of Spain’s top national team players sent emails to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Sept. 22, expressing their intention to go on strike until working conditions improve.
In their emails, the players blasted the toxic environment Head Coach Jorge Vilda has fostered for not only leading to disappointing match results but also detrimentally affecting their “emotional state” and “health.”
The unified effort came just weeks after a number of senior players met with RFEF president Luis Rubiales to air their concerns over Vilda’s coaching style.
In response, the RFEF issued a statement threatening to suspend the women for up to five years, calling into question the players’ “dignity” by stating they must “accept their mistakes and seek forgiveness” before returning to the national team.
This is not the first time the Spanish players have had to take matters into their own hands. After a poor showing at the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the entire Spanish roster led a charge to oust then-Head Coach Ignacio Quereda. The athletes alleged that Quereda fomented a culture of fear, bigotry and...
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