The commitment reached at dawn on Wednesday at the Oliva conclave, drafted and signed before the Higher Sports Council (CSD), was essential for the footballers to agree to stay and give a vote of confidence to the Federation. So far, the president of the Federation, Luis Rubiales, the coach, Jorge Vilda, and the federation general secretary, Andreu Camps, have left, but they will not be the only changes.
The Federation yesterday appeared receptive in its desire to reform, acknowledged mistakes and apologized to the footballers through a statement: “The RFEF reiterates its apologies for what happened after the World Cup victory to each of them and, in particular , to Jenni Hermoso, immersed in a situation that she did not create. We are going to always support them.”
“We understand that the players need to feel that the Federation is their home, a safe environment in which to show their professionalism,” read the statement, which also stated that “the RFEF has always sought this objective,” admitting that it had not achieved create “until yesterday a climate of trust with the internationals.”
The good federative intentions in pursuit of “starting a new stage” should not stop there and the management commission created after Rubiales’ goodbye knows this. The manager, under pressure from the Government, has already committed to accelerating the changes demanded by the footballers that affect those responsible for four areas. People, all of them, who are directly involved in one way or another with the pressures suffered by Jenni Hermoso after Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss.
Rubén Rivera, marketing director of the Federation, traveled to Ibiza together with a group of internationals who had come to the island invited by the Balearic government, among whom was Hermoso. The soccer players have reported having received pressure for Hermoso to come out in defense of Rubiales.
Also noted is the communications department, responsible for the Federation’s communications in which statements were attributed to Hermoso that the current Pachuca player denied having uttered. The statements were sent by the RFEF to the press. Yesterday it was also learned that Rubiales and her father pressured the press officer of the women’s team, Patricia González, to lie and say that the player had given her consent to the dissemination of those statements. Miguel García Caba, director of integrity and another of those responsible who want him out, was present at that meeting.
Another area in which they ask for changes is in the women’s football organizational chart, which includes names such as Ana Álvarez (director of women’s football) and Rafa del Amo (president of the women’s football committee). The latter is one of the least controversial figures of all. “As far as possible, he has always been close to the soccer players,” explain sources close to the players. Del Amo was the first to resign after the controversial post-World Cup Rubiales assembly, a gesture that the footballers have recognized. Also in the spotlight is Francis Hernández, national team coordinator and one of Rubiales’ trusted men. His support for the former president has always been total and he has not hesitated to point out Jenni Hermoso as the culprit of the entire crisis in his Las Rozas circles.
Where movements have already been made is in the presidential cabinet. José María Timón was relieved on September 7 and interim president Pedro Rocha put in his place Elvira Andrés, vice president of the RFEF who will now also share the general secretaryship with Alfredo Olivares.
Yesterday the Federation, as an example of change, announced that from now on the men’s and women’s teams will remain under the single brand of the Spanish Soccer Team, eliminating the “women’s” from the name. “Beyond a symbolic step, we want it to imply a change in concept, and the recognition that football is football, regardless of whoever practices it,” explained Pedro Rocha.
