The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the women's national team coach Jorge Vilda Tuesday (September 5) for his connection to the controversy surrounding the celebratory kiss of suspended boss Luis Rubiales to star player Jenni Hermoso, which she alleged was without her consent.
"The federation wants to express its gratitude to Jorge Vilda for the services provided, for his professionalism and his dedication during all these years, wishing him success in the future," the RFEF said in a statement. "He leaves the federation with an extraordinary sporting legacy thanks to the implementation of a recognized game model and a methodology that has been an engine of growth for all the women's categories of the national team."
The federation has announced Vilda's assistant coach, Montse Tome, as his replacement, Reuters reported. Tome is the first woman to ever helm the Spanish women's national team.
Her first task as head coach would be to guide the women's team in its match against Sweden on September 22.
Vilda was fired less than three weeks after his side won the FIFA Women's World Cup against England 1-0.
How Vilda was Caught Up in the Rubiales 'Kiss-gate'
In the aftermath of the incident, Rubiales insisted he would not resign his post, claiming calls for him to go was a case of "social assassination" to his career by "false feminists." Several players across all the teams who competed in the Women's World Cup, particularly retired Team USA captain Megan Rapinoe, were openly lesbian or supported the LGBT+ community.
Nevertheless, FIFA suspended Rubiales for 90 days.
During Rubiales's shocked stay-put decision during RFEF's emergency meeting, Vilda was seen applauding his decision but later on, slammed Rubiales's behavior in the celebration on the pitch as improper.
However, the issue with Vilda ran longer than the scandal in Sydney.
He was the coach of the Spanish women's team since 2015, and he managed to avert being fired even if most of the players rebelled against him less than a year ago in a crisis that put his job in jeopardy. A total of 15 players stepped aside from the national team for their mental health, demanding a more professional environment.
Of the 15 who signed a letter complaining about Vilda and the conditions the national team faced, only three returned to the squad that won the World Cup, and even then, the players who replaced the 12 who never came back ignored him whenever they won. The remaining 12 were not heard of ever since the Rubiales scandal.
Vilda was heavily backed by Rubiales throughout the process, the Associated Press reported.
Spanish Men's Team Backs the Girls
Spanish men's team coach Luis de la Fuente also applauded in the RFEF meeting but later on apologized for having clapped Rubiales's decision, but insisted he should not resign for what he described as "inexcusable human error."
Meanwhile, the captains of the Spanish men's football team have announced their support for their feminine counterparts and also called for Rubiales's resignation or sacking, whichever comes first.
RFEF Acting Boss to Football World: 'We're Sorry for What Rubiales Did'
Aside from kissing Hermoso, Rubiales was also photographed grabbing his crotch while he was seated next to Queen Letizia and Princess Sofia, her underage daughter with Spanish monarch King Felipe VI.
For this, RFEF's interim president Pedro Rocha issued a separate statement Tuesday apologizing to the football world and to society in general for the mess Rubiales made to his federation.
"The damage [Rubiales] caused to Spanish football, to Spanish sport, to Spanish society and the values of football and sport as a whole [has] been enormous," he wrote. "In no way, his behavior represents the values of Spanish society as a whole, its institutions, its representatives, its athletes and the Spanish sports leaders."
