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The Spanish football federation (RFEF) on Tuesday said it has dismissed the coach of its national women’s team, Jorge Vilda, just weeks after the team won its first World Cup.
The RFEF did not specify why the contract, which would have seen Vilda leading the national team until August 2024, was terminated ahead of time.
In a statement announcing the move, the federation highlighted Vida’s “impeccable personal and sporting conduct,” saying the 42-year-old played a “key role in the remarkable growth of women’s football in Spain.”
Former national team player Montse Tome, Vilda’s assistant, was named as his successor, becoming the first woman to hold the post.
Last year Vilda, who has been the women’s national team coach since 2015, survived a mutiny from 15 players who said they would not play again under him, complaining about his methods. The RFEF backed Vilda at the time and only three of the 15 made it into the World Cup squad.
Vilda and men’s national coach Luis de la Fuente then caused outrage at the end of August when they applauded RFEF boss Luis Rubiales’ speech in which he said he wouldn’t resign after kissing Spain star Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the women’s World Cup trophy presentation.
Rubiales has since been provisionally suspended by the RFEF and world football federation FIFA, which has launched an ethics probe.
Rubiales has insisted the kiss was consensual and refuses to resign, despite calls for him to do so by RFEF’s regional associations and others, while Hermoso has said she did not consent.
Most of the World Cup winning team’s staff resigned in a show of solidarity with Hermoso, but head coach Jorge Vilda was not among them. Tome was.