Spain fires coach as kiss fallout continues

MADRID — Spain's soccer federation on Tuesday apologized for the "totally unacceptable behavior" of Luis Rubiales over his World Cup kiss and fired the team's controversial coach, replacing him with a woman as part of an overhaul.

The apology came more than two weeks after the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) boss sparked worldwide outrage when he forcibly kissed Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso during the medal ceremony after Spain defeated England in the final on Aug 20.

In a letter signed by its interim president, Pedro Rocha, the RFEF offered its "most sincere apologies... for the totally unacceptable behavior of its highest institutional representative during the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 and in the moments that followed".

Although the kiss drew condemnation from across the soccer world and beyond, prompting FIFA to suspend him, it was another eight days before the RFEF called for Rubiales to stand down as its president.

But he has refused to resign, defending the kiss as "just a peck "which he claimed was consensual — which Hermoso completely denies.

"The damage caused to Spanish football, Spanish sport, Spanish society and to the values of football and sport as a whole has been enormous," the RFEF said, extending the apology to FIFA, UEFA "and especially the players of the Spanish national women's team".

Shortly afterwards, the federation announced it was firing Jorge Vilda, 42, who had served as coach of the national team since 2015, and naming its firstever woman to coach the World Cup-winning squad.

"The RFEF... has decided to dispense with the services of Jorge Vilda as sports director and women's national team coach," the RFEF said in a statement, later naming Montse Tome as his replacement.

"She will be the first woman to hold the position in Spain," it said of Tome, a former player who has served as the team's assistant coach since 2018.

Vilda's dismissal had been widely expected after he was seen applauding Rubiales after a belligerent speech in which he refused to resign and railed against "false feminism".

The two were known to be close.

The RFEF said his dismissal was "the first of a string of restructuring measures" aimed at improving the governance in the wake of the scandal, which has exposed what critics say is a deep-rooted misogyny within Spanish soccer.

Vilda came under fire a year ago after 15 national players refused to be part of the squad while he remained as coach, pointing to incidents under his leadership that were affecting their performances on the pitch.

The RFEF offered no criticism of Vilda, saying only he had been "key to the remarkable growth of women's football that had left Spain as world champion and second in the FIFA rankings".

On the day of the final, the RFEF initially issued a statement quoting Hermoso as saying the kiss was "a natural gesture of affection and gratitude".

Rubiales offered a cursory apology but later toughened his stance in his defiant speech to the RFEF on Aug 25, prompting Hermoso to issue her own statement saying the kiss was not consensual and had left her feeling "vulnerable" and like "the victim of an assault".

A day later, the federation accused her of "lies" over the incident, threatening legal action against her.

Both RFEF statements were subsequently removed from the federation's website.

AFP