On Sept. 5, the Spanish Women’s National Team’s Head Coach, Jorge Vilda, was fired. Prior to the dismissal, there was an incident where the President of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed one of the players, Jenni Hermoso, right after the team won the World Cup. 

Rubiales later apologized for his actions and described the kiss as “mutual,” though  Hermoso denied this claim, saying she was not respected. In a statement released on social media, Hermoso says she was “the victim of aggression.” 

Currently, Rubiales is serving a 90 day suspension from FIFA while disciplinary proceedings are underway. Vilda, head coach of the Spanish Women’s National Team since 2015, later released a statement saying that he is “deeply sorry that the victory of Spanish women’s football has been harmed by the inappropriate behavior that our until now top leader, Luis Rubiales, has carried out and that he himself has recognized.” 

A statement released by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said that the “RFEF appreciates [Vilda’s] work at the head of the national team and his responsibilities as the maximum sporting figure of the women’s national teams, as well as the successes reaped during his term, crowned with the recent achievement of the World Cup.” They also praised him for his role in the growth of women’s soccer in Spain. The RFEF cited structural change as the reason for his firing. 

When Rubiales spoke at the Federation’s Extraordinary General Assembly last month, he refused to resign from his position, and he also offered his support to Vilda, including a new coaching deal of $542,000 per year. “On another level, a lot smaller (than my situation), but they wanted to do to you what they’re doing to me now,” Rubiales said. 

This is not the first time there have been issues with the leadership of the Spanish women’s soccer team. In Sept. 2022, fifteen members of the women’s team signed and sent letters to the RFEF saying they would not play for the team unless there were major changes in coaching staff. Only three of the fifteen players who signed the letters played on the national team this year, despite their success. 

The controversy surrounding Vilda has only grown bigger after the World Cup final, where footage from the match showed him inappropriately touching a female staff member while celebrating Spain’s goal against England. Vilda did not respond to questions about the incident when contacted by CNN. 

Montse Tomé, the assistant coach since 2018, recently took over the position of head coach. She is now the first woman to be head coach for the Spanish Women’s National Team. Tomé’s first game in her new role will be on Sept. 22 against Sweden.