Calacus Monthly Hit & Miss – Spain National Women’s Team and RFEF
Every month we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the last few weeks.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup saw the Spanish national team deservedly lift the trophy for the first time after defeating England’s Lionesses by a single goal in the final at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
The end of the tournament also offered a moment, at last, to pause and reflect on a breathless month of raw emotions, technical brilliance and numerous shattered records.
Despite all of the quality, though, there still remained something of a sour taste in the mouth given the adversity to which so many of the women’s players were subjected.
In the face of this, the players repeatedly proved that they were unafraid to stand up for what they believe is right.
This was typified months before the tournament had begun, when a player-led campaign successfully removed Visit Saudi as a sponsor.
During the World Cup, the Nigerian team were one of many competing nations that were locked in a pay dispute with their own federation.
Former England striker Ian Wright weighed in on Twitter to show his support for the Nigerian players after their superb and surprise victory over co-hosts Australia.
Meanwhile, England goalkeeper Mary Earps regularly criticised Nike’s decision not to sell her jersey, despite her being one of the stars of the tournament.
There were also rumblings of discontent about the reported pay disparity between Lionesses coach Sarina Wiegman and her male counterpart, Gareth Southgate, even though Wiegman has had a far better record in the role.
This all came in the context of a vast gap in prize money offered by FIFA between this Women’s World Cup and the men’s 2022 edition in Qatar.
Tactics, performances and professionalism have clearly taken great strides forward but in the fight for equal conditions, it still feels like there is a long way to go.
The plight of the women’s players was summarised aptly by iconic United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) star Megan Rapinoe who said that female players are constantly “playing two games at the same time” – off the pitch as well as on it.
Never could this have been more apparent than in the case of the eventual champions Spain.
The Spanish team came into the tournament already under a cloud.
At the end of 2022, a group of 15 first-team players had sent identical emails to the Spanish football federation (RFEF) requesting the removal of Jorge Vilda as manager with rumours that they had issues with his personal behaviour as well as his tactical shortcomings.
The RFEF backed their man, declaring that ‘Las 15’ had been “poorly advised” and threatened bans of up to five years as Vilda was given the ultimate vote of confidence to continue in his work.
Prior to the World Cup, Vilda recalled just three of the 15: Aitana Bonmatí, Mariona Caldentey and Ona Batlle, with Vilda saying: "The RFEF has always been open to dialogue. The conflict is practically resolved, a few details would remain. We would be delighted if that were the case, but we look at the players who are committed and have shown their commitment."
The rest, including many FC Barcelona Femení stars who had just won the UEFA Women’s Champions League, were excluded.
The rebels treated the tournament in a similar manner, ignoring the World Cup and highlighting the glaring political divide within Spanish women’s football.
In spite of this internal turmoil, the selected Spanish players displayed miraculous resolve to concentrate on the sport during the World Cup.
There were glimpses of the bitterness between the players and Vilda throughout their run to the final, though, most notably when two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas blatantly blanked Vilda as she was substituted in the semi-final against Sweden.
When Spain arrived to face England in the final, the Sydney crowd greeted the announcement of Vilda’s name with a chorus of boos .
A superbly-taken goal from captain Olga Carmona was enough to win the final, a somewhat poignant moment with the goalscorer discovering that her father had passed away earlier that same day.
The separate groups of celebrations at the full-time whistle illustrated the distinct dissociation between players and staff.
But it was during the trophy presentation that the problems grew as RFEF President Luis Rubiales ensured that he was going to be front and centre.
Whereas earlier in the year, the FC Barcelona Femení players had to collect their own medals after winning the Spanish Super Cup, this time the RFEF leader piggybacked onto the success of the women’s team to put himself firmly in the headlines.
Firstly, Rubiales was caught on camera making an obscene gesture with his groin in the stands right beside Queen Letizia of Spain and her 16-year-old daughter.
On the podium, Rubiales, having already unnecessarily hugged, touched the face and kissed the cheek of various English and Spanish players, abused his position of power one time too many as he planted a kiss on the lips of Spanish attacker Jenni Hermoso.
Suddenly, even in their crowning moment, a time that should have been euphoric for the squad became overshadowed by the ugly actions of this man.
Rather than swiftly dealing with their president, the RFEF tweeted “Vilda In” a post that was met with anger and despondency and described as a disgrace.
When it was finally time for Rubiales to face the media, he dismissed criticism of his actions. Speaking to Spanish broadcaster COPE, he referred to the people who were unhappy with his actions as “idiots” and “stupid people.”
“It was a kiss between two friends celebrating something. Let’s ignore them [the critics] and enjoy the good things.”
Within a day, however, Rubiales had performed a sudden volte-face, releasing a video with a half-baked apology.
In a short address to camera, he stated: “I was surely wrong, I have to admit it, because at a moment of maximum effusiveness, without any bad intentions, without any bad faith, well, what happened happened.
“We didn’t understand [the controversy] because we saw it as something natural, normal,” he added. “But outside it seems that a commotion has formed, and of course if there are people who have felt damaged by this, I have to apologise, I have no other choice.”
It was evident from his words that Rubiales couldn’t see what he had done wrong.
Despite saying “I didn’t like it [the kiss], but what do I do?” in an Instagram live video from the changing room immediately after the incident, it seemed that Hermoso had also performed a U-turn when a statement attributed to her was then released.
"It was a mutual gesture, totally spontaneous because of the immense joy that comes from winning a World Cup," read the statement provided by the RFEF.
“The president and I have a great relationship, his behaviour with all of us has been top notch,” it continued. “A gesture of friendship and gratitude cannot be given any more thought. We have won a World Cup and we are not going to deviate from what is important.”
Astonishingly, it subsequently emerged that the ‘Hermoso statement’ had been fabricated by the RFEF.
Rubiales was alleged to have unsuccessfully pleaded with Hermoso to defend him in a joint statement while Vilda approached her family on three occasions, desperate for her to appear alongside Rubiales in the apology video.
Four days after the final, Hermoso released her own joint statement with FUTPRO: "We express our firm and resounding condemnation of conduct that violates the dignity of women.
"From our association, we ask the Royal Spanish Football Federation to implement the necessary protocols, ensure the rights of our players and adopt exemplary measures.
"It is essential that our national team, current world champion, is always represented by figures that project values of equality and respect in all areas.”
If Rubiales’ position wasn’t already untenable, Hermoso’s statement prompted numerous senior voices, in the worlds of sport and politics, to call for his resignation.
Beatriz Álvarez Mesa, the President of Liga F (the top tier of Spanish women’s football), wrote an open letter to the government attacking Rubiales. Her comment that "the person that many of us know in private has been unveiled publicly" was utterly damning.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, described Rubiales’ gesture as “unacceptable” and said that his “apologies are not enough.” At the same time, the Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, labelled the actions as “a form of sexual violence that women suffer on a daily basis.”
Tamara Ramos, a former employee of the Spanish players’ association and colleague of Rubiales, then spoke out about past humiliating treatment she had suffered at his hands.
In response to Ramos, the RFEF condemned the allegations and announced that they would sue her for the false allegations.
The Federation’s stubborn, defensive approach was then superseded when Rubiales called a press conference for the following Friday morning, where it was widely expected that he would announce his resignation.
In a stunning turn of events, he took to the stage to defiantly repeat that he would not resign, describing “false feminism” as “one of the scourges of this country” and placed himself as the victim of a witch hunt.
Worryingly, his comments received an outburst of applause by much of the audience, including from Vilda and Luis de la Fuente, the Spanish men’s team manager.
Immediately after this speech, a catalogue of prominent women’s players condemned Rubiales and spoke out in support of Hermoso including Lionesses Leah Williamson and Beth Mead and USWNT’s Alex Morgan.
“This is unacceptable. It's over. With you partner @Jennihermoso” was the simple but powerful message posted by Putellas.
Bonmatí similarly tweeted: “There are limits that cannot be crossed and we cannot tolerate this. We are with you mate.”
The situation was perhaps best summed up by Dutch player, Merel van Dongen, who used FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s recent words against him.
Although van Dongen mentioned men, there was a conspicuously smaller number of male players who publicly backed Hermoso.
Borja Iglesias ruled himself out of national team selection, Héctor Bellerín vented his frustration via his Instagram story, and Barcelona captain Sergi Roberto quoted Putellas on Twitter to show support. Legendary Spanish goalkeepers David de Gea and Iker Casillas also denounced the “embarrassment” of Rubiales.
Unfortunately though, the majority of men’s players, both past and present, have remained silent on the issue, suggesting a significant sociopolitical divide between male and female players.
Top Spanish clubs united behind the calls for Rubiales’ resignation, starting with Cadiz, then Getafe, Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid, who hopped onboard the bandwagon, before eventually both Real Madrid and Barcelona joined them.
Hermoso herself responded to the press conference, confirming via her Twitter that the kiss was not “consensual”.
Her teammates then launched a boycott of the national team with a total of 81 players – including the entire World Cup winning squad – co-signing a letter saying they will not be available for international selection until the “Federation leadership is removed.”
The weekend that followed the explosive press conference provided almost non-stop new developments.
Many journalists attributed Rubiales’ attitude as being symptomatic of a long-standing issue within the system of Spanish football governance.
This idea was further enforced when details of complaints against Rubiales going back as far as 2016 surfaced, as well as a disturbing video of disgraced former national team manager, Ignacio Quereda, intimidating and physically assaulting Spanish players.
Wary of the unprecedented damage that this drama was doing to their national reputation, the Spanish government opened up proceedings against Rubiales to get him forcibly removed from his post via tribunal and he was then provisionally suspended from all football activity by FIFA.
Still the RFEF circled around their man and threatened to take legal action against Hermoso for her “lies,” releasing their own breakdown of the kiss, claiming that Hermoso had initiated it despite video evidence of Rubiales picking up numerous other Spanish players before Hermoso, which strongly opposes this allegation.
In addition, the RFEF general secretary wrote to UEFA to request to withdraw Spanish clubs from European competition due to government involvement breaking UEFA impartiality protocols.
UEFA have chosen not to respond to the RFEF request, nor make any comment on the situation surrounding their vice-president, raising questions about their values and vested interests.
Sometimes, no communication can be just as detrimental as poor communication.
A mass resignation of the Spanish coaching staff then left just Vilda still in situ, but his position was hardly stable.
Misa Rodriguez, a member of Vilda’s World Cup winning squad, demanded his removal before the players could consider a return.
As eminent voices in world football, such as Lise Klaveness of Norway, continued to throw their support behind Hermoso, the people of Spain took to the streets in protest against the RFEF president.
The issue went as far as the UN Human Rights office, who said that the public stance on the kiss could be “a turning point” in terms of sexism and misogyny.
Perhaps the most bizarre part of the story came from Rubiales’ hometown of Motril, where his mother, Angeles Bejar, locked herself into a Church saying she would go on hunger strike in an attempt to end the “inhuman, bloodthirsty witch hunt” of her son. Bejar has since been hospitalised and discharged.
Eventually, more than a week after the World Cup final incident, the RFEF released an official statement requesting Rubiales to resign.
A textbook response when an individual or organisation does something wrong, either deliberately or by mistake, is to acknowledge what has happened, apologise and then commit to fix it.
On this occasion, even in his bumbled apology video, it was clear that Rubiales did not truly appreciate what he had done wrong – the actions of the President and his organisation since has confirmed this.
Instead, the lack of self-reflection and understanding has caused this story to become one of the great communications own goals in living memory.
As it stands in early September, Rubiales remains in post although how much longer he will stay there is anyone’s guess.
The saga has been widely reported as a ‘Me Too’ moment for Spanish society and the hashtag “#SeAcabó” (“It’s Over”) trended on social media and has become the slogan for an end to gender inequality across the country.
As such, perversely, the Rubiales scandal may prove beneficial as it might just be the catalyst to push forward a long overdue cultural clean-up.
The words and actions of the RFEF President have shone a light on a deeply entrenched problem within Spanish football, a problem that former national team member Veró Boquete says players have “been living and suffering for a long time.”
Even though UEFA have attempted to avoid the matter, at their own grand ceremony in Monaco at the end of August, England coach Wiegman delivered a passionate speech, dedicating her Women’s Coach of the Year award to the Spanish players.
“We all know the issues around the Spanish team,” said Wiegman, standing alongside UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin. “It really hurts me, as a coach, as a mother of two daughters, as a wife and as a human being.
“The game has grown so much, but there’s also still a long way to go in women’s football and in society. This team [Spain] deserves to be celebrated and deserves to be listened to.”
In contrast to Rubiales and the RFEF, communication from Wiegman, the Spanish players, and their many supporters, has been simple, concise and devastatingly effective.
Hermoso then issued a legal complaint of sexual assault over the unsolicited kiss by Rubiales which could see him face criminal charges in addition to the ongoing probe by Spain’s top sport court for ‘serious misconduct.’
Rubiales appears to have cemented himself into a position of untouchable authority within Spanish football, but the force of the united opposing messaging has completely shattered that misconception.
It took more than two weeks for the RFEF to start addressing the issues.
Firstly, Vilda was sacked, although the RFEF did not give a specific reason for his dismissal, before Interim President Pedro Rocha, who has taken on the role while Rubiales is suspended, issued an apology: "The Royal Spanish Football Federation, through its President, Mr Pedro Rocha, considers it is essential to present the most sincere apologies to the football institutions, the players, especially the players of the Spanish National Football Team and the English National Football Team, stakeholders involved in football and the fans around the world for the totally unacceptable behaviour of its highest institutional representative during the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 and in the moments that followed.
"The damage caused to Spanish football, to Spanish sport, to Spanish society and the values of football and sport as a whole have been enormous.
"The RFEF wants to transmit to the whole of society and to the whole of the football world its utmost regret for what happened that has tarnished our team, our football and our society.
"We must apologise most sincerely and make a firm and absolute commitment that events like these can never happen again."
It almost matters not whether Rubiales leaves of his own accord, or is dismissed – the damage to Spanish football’s reputation will take years to rebuild, and requires a root and branch overhaul of its governance and personnel.
As Wiegman, Boquete and so many others have plainly stated: “It’s over.”