Spanish Soccer Federation Fires Women’s National Team Coach Weeks After World Cup Win
The removal of World Cup-winner Jorge Vilda comes amid pressure to force out federation head Luis Rubiales following his forcible kiss of a player last month.
PremiumLess than three weeks after Spain won the Women’s World Cup, the Spanish soccer federation on Tuesday fired national team coach Jorge Vilda, as it attempted to repair the damage caused by federation head Luis Rubiales’s forcible kiss of a player during the celebrations.
Spanish soccer’s governing body didn’t give a reason for Vilda’s exit, simply stating that he had been dismissed.
“The [federation] would like to express its gratitude to Jorge Vilda for the services he has provided, for his professionalism and dedication during all these years, wishing him the best of success in the future," it said.
In a separate statement, the organization also reiterated its call for Rubiales to resign, which he has refused to do despite being provisionally suspended from his role by soccer’s world governing body and enormous pressure from within Spain and around the world.
Spain’s Royal Soccer Federation said in an open letter that it wished to apologize for the “totally unacceptable behavior of its highest representative during the final and in the subsequent moments, which did not in any way reflect the values of the whole of Spanish society, their institutions, their representatives, their athletes and the leaders of Spanish sport."
Vilda was already an unpopular figure in the team, long before the Rubiales incident. In 2022, 15 players had staged a walkout over what they viewed to be overly controlling methods from the coach. A few eventually returned, but several senior members of the team stayed away in protest of Vilda and missed out on Spain’s World Cup run.
Throughout the dispute, Rubiales steadfastly defended Vilda and insisted he wouldn’t remove him from his post.
Write to Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com
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