Spain drops all 15 players, coach not resigning

Spain has dropped all the female players who renounced playing for their nation in a decision that the Spanish federation interpreted as a move towards removing their coach.

Coach Jorge Vilda didn’t pick the players who had sent emails to the federation last week.

In the mail, the players mentioned that playing for the coach had “significantly” affected their emotional state and health.

Instead of supporting the players, the Federation has decided to stand with the coach and asked the players to ask for “forgiveness” for trying to force the ousting of Vilda.

While they didn’t explicitly ask for a new coach, the players did mention that it would be a practical solution to get the best out of the players.

The team will not feature left striker Jennifer Hermoso and captain Irene Paredes, who did not send emails. They are off Vilda’s squad for friendlies against Sweden on Oct. 7 and the United States on Oct. 11 in Spain.

Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was unavailable as she’s recovering from a left knee injury just before this summer’s European Championship, where Spain reached the quarterfinals. But Alexia, like Hermoso, has shown sympathy for the group of 15 in public statements.

While the players have complained about Vilda’s coaching technics, there have been no accusations of misconduct of any wrong kind by Vilda.

Vilda even went as far on Friday as to publicly call for any player to denounce his behaviour if he had done any wrong.

“Due to the lack of clarity by the players in their public appearances and statements, there has been speculation that there is something going on beyond just the sport,” Vilda said. “I want to make a public appeal today that if any of my present or former players have received anything but exquisite treatment from me to say so.”

Vilda also said that he is noway near stepping down from the position despite losing most of his first-choice players.