Spain Sacks Jorge Vilda As Women’s Football Team Coach
Spain’s women’s football team coach Jorge Vilda has been sacked, the football federation (RFEF) said, 10 days after FIFA suspended RFEF’s president for kissing team player Jenni Hermoso on the mouth in celebration of Spain’s World Cup triumph.
Vilda was replaced by his assistant, Montse Tome, who becomes the first woman to coach the women’s national team. She had been Vilda’s assistant coach since 2018 and has since “established herself as a key player in the national team’s growth”, the RFEF said in a statement.
A new board formed after RFEF President Luis Rubiales’ suspension by football’s world governing body, over the allegedly non-consensual kiss during the FIFA World Cup victory celebration two weeks ago, terminated Vilda’s contract.
In a statement that gave no reason for his dismissal and did not mention Hermoso, Rubiales or the scandal, RFEF thanked 42-year-old Vilda for his “extraordinary sporting legacy”.
“The coach has been key to the remarkable growth of women’s football and leaves Spain as world champions and second in the FIFA rankings,” the RFEF statement said.
Vilda, considered a close ally of Rubiales, had been under fire since last year after 15 players staged a mutiny calling for his resignation because of inadequate coaching methods and calling for conditions to match those of the men’s squad.
Most of the players involved were cut from the squad even as some demands were met.
Spain’s top 58 female players said they would not play for the national team under the existing leadership. An RFEF source said last week that players were now being consulted to see whether the removal of Vilda would change that.
