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The Barcelona sensation believes the changes made to football administration in Spain since Luis Rubiales’ infamous kiss on Jenni Hermoso will change women’s football for the better.
Reigning Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas has decried decades of “systemic discrimination” which have long forced Spain’s female players to shoulder more than football.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday on the eve of their Nations League match against Sweden, Putellas directly addressed the month-long crisis that has engulfed football in the country since Luis Rubiales’ infamous kiss on Jenni Hermoso’s lips.
Changes have been made to the football administration in Spanish football since that incidence. First, Rubiales was forced to resign from his post. Second, head coach Jorge Vilda was dismissed after the Spanish FA faced mounting pressure over the controversy surrounding Rubiales, who is a close ally of the coach.
General secretary Andreau Camps was also sacked, which prompted the players who had boycotted from representing the country to reverse their decision.
“We had to fight very hard to be heard, which comes with wear and tear that we don’t want,” Putellas told reporters on Thursday on the eve of their Nations League match against Sweden. “For many decades – too many – we detected that there was systemic discrimination against women’s football.”
“We are the first ones who want to be football players but we’ve had to wrap our heads around the idea that that is not possible.”
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18:54 - 15.09.2023
Former Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales handed restraining order from Jenni Hermoso
Rubiales continued to deny sexually assaulting or coercing Hermoso in court but was still handed a restraining order from the victim.
Putellas has insisted that what happened to Hermoso “cannot be tolerated” as football is “a reflection of society” as the incidence just could not be “brushed aside” just like that.
“What our colleague Jenni went through cannot be tolerated,” she said. “Football is a reflection of our society and we didn’t want to set a precedent by brushing aside a situation like this.”
All the 23 players that won the World Cup had boycotted future call ups until changes were made to the way football was run in the country. However, 15 were still called up and turned up.
As people across Spain and around the world rallied around the World Cup winners – hundreds turning up to cheer them on as the squad trained in eastern Spain – the government orchestrated a seven-hour marathon meeting between players, the federation and country’s high council for sports.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the government said that all but two of the 23 players who had been called up would end their boycott after the federation promised “immediate and profound changes”.
Putellas was upbeat following the meeting, describing it as a “before and after” for female football in Spain, and highlighting the creation of a joint commission made up of players, federation officials and government staff to oversee the changes.
“I truly believe that the agreement we reached after the meeting that lasted all night will make our sport, women’s sports in general and as a consequence, society at large better.”
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21:58 - 17.09.2023
Disgraced Spanish FA president to sell his house amidst rising legal fees
As the cost of a legal battle intensifies, former Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales could be forced to sell his house to raise money
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