Rubiales Latest: World Champions refuse to play
The Luis Rubiales debacle has yet another twist.
Last night DubSports revealed that Rubiales was to resign this morning.
Everything seemed to be pointing to this outcome. Publications in Spain such as Sport and Diario AS even had briefings that this had the green light.
However, to the surprise of everyone, Rubiales addressed the Spanish press, stating that he was ‘suffering a witch hunt’ and exclaiming: “I will not resign!”
He repeated this three times for some implicitly ‘profound’ effect. The resulting one actually being quite cringeworthy.
For which he received a smattering of applause.
While the President of the Spanish FA decided to show off his best ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort [well, Leonardo di Caprio] impression, further callings for his resignation have been voiced in the footballing world.
Footballers Borja Iglesias and Alexia Putellas have voiced their displeasure.
The former said that he will not return to the Spanish national team ‘until things change’
And the latter showed support to victim and teammate Jenni Hermoso: “This is unacceptable. It’s over. I’m with you partner @JenniHermoso”
Shortly after the support from Putellas and Iglesias, news broke that Rafael del Amo, a prominent figure in the RFEF, had resigned.
Del Amo was Head of the Women’s Football Commission as well as the President of the Navarra Regional Football Federation.
His resignation is an act of support to Hermoso. His public statement can be viewed below (second tweet) via the Catalan outlet, Sport.
Whether or not this will lead to a domino effect remains unclear but Rubiales losing an important member of the Federation is bound to heap even more pressure on the President.
This evening, it can be revealed that 50 active Spanish footballers have signed a declaration stating that they will not play for the National team until Rubiales is ousted.
Among those 50? Every member of the Women’s World Cup-winning squad.
Neither Hermoso nor any of her teammates will play for Spain for as long as Rubiales is in post. A remarkable display of solidarity.
Despite this, Rubiales seems to be standing firm. For now, at least.
However, a scenario in which the current World Champions won’t be taking to the pitch would be absolutely unprecedented.
The proverbial ‘witch hunt’ is sure to continue.
More to follow…
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