Jorge Vilda has been sacked as manager of Spain Women as part of a restructure following Luis Rubiales’ kissing scandal.
Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have sacked Vilda in the wake of the World Cup controversy surrounding president, Rubiales, who is currently suspended by FIFA until mid-November following his non-consenual kiss of Jennifer Hermoso after the Final.
Prior to that kiss, Spain had beaten England 1-0 through Olga Carmona’s first half winner in Sydney, Australia, to clinch their first Women’s World Cup title.
Explaining their decision to axe Vilda, RFEF issued the following statement: “The RFEF would like to express its gratitude to Jorge Vilda for the services provided, for his professionalism and dedication during all these years, wishing him the best success for the future.
“The RFEF is left with an extraordinary sporting legacy thanks to the implementation of a recognized game model and amethodology that has been an engine of growth for all the female categories of the national team.”
Vilda’s departure wasn’t the only announcement to come out of the Spanish FA as the RFEF also moved to issue a public apology for “totally unacceptable” behaviour following their World Cup triumph, unreflective of “the values of Spanish society as a whole,” and Spanish sport too.
Within that apology, Spanish FA iterated that Rubiales had “tarnished” their Women’s World Cup success with “enormous” damage to Spain’s status within the sporting world both nationally and internationally, as well as to society itself.
Montse Tome was later confirmed as Vilda’s replacement with her first game in charge coming away to Sweden on 22 September in UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Vilda’s Departure is Unsurprising
Vilda’s departure shouldn”t come as a shock after his coaching staff resigned in the wake of his decision to applaud Rubiales at an extraordinary general assembly on Friday 25 August.
His actions also saw the World Cup winning squad alongside 58 former players issue a joint-statement, which iterated that they had no intention of playing for the national team again, unless Rubiales resigned after he repeatedly declined to do so at the general assembly.
It was however the walk-out of his coaching staff which led Vilda to switch allegiance as he slammed Rubiales, despite the latter having stood by him amidst pressure from players over the past year for him to resign and offered him a four-year contract following their World Cup triumph.
Vilda eventually released a statement to clarify his stance on Rubiales’ actions following the departures of his coaching staff, which plunged this crisis into deeper levels as Spain now prepare for this autumn’s inaugural UEFA Women’s Nations League competition.
‘I regret deeply that the victory of Spanish women’s football has been harmed by the inappropriate behaviour that our until now top leader, Luis Rubiales, has carried out and that he himself has recognised,’ Vilda wrote in a statement released on Saturday.
‘There is no doubt that it is unacceptable and does not reflect at all the principles and values that I defend in my life, in sport in general and in football in particular.
‘I condemn without doubt any macho attitude, [which is] far from an advanced and developed society.
‘A clearly undesirable climate has been generated, far from what should have been a great celebration of Spanish sport and women’s sport.
‘I reiterate my unwavering commitment to promoting a sport that is a model of equality and respect in our society.’
His stance however failed to dissuade the RFEF who decided to dismiss him as part of a restructure as requested by regional presidents, in order to create a solid base to build upon their Women’s World Cup success and move on from the current scandal.
RFEF however had spent the past week having reviewed the contractual and legal aspects of Vilda’s position, which eventually saw him dismissed at a meeting.
His departure meant that Vilda has left his role after eight years having avoided defeat in 91 of his 108 games in charge (75 wins, 16 draws and 17 losses), during which he led La Roja to three titles – 2017 Algarve Cup, 2018 Cyprus Cup plus 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Vilda is also the second consecutive Women’s World Cup winning manager to leave before the end of the calendar year, after Jill Ellis stood down as USA manager at the end of 2019 following her personal decision to move on and explore new opportunities.
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