Thanks to Spain’s dominance, Sunday’s 2023 World Cup Final was largely without drama. La Roja took the lead in the 29th minute over England after an Olga Carmona goal. They would hold firm for the rest of the match en route to a 1-0 victory and the nation’s first-ever Women’s World Cup title.
But the way the Spanish Football Federation’s Twitter account treated the celebrations after the fact has deservedly ruffled some feathers in the soccer world. The official account posted a photo of Spain head coach Jorge Vilda kissing the championship trophy with a caption of “Vilda In” and a No. 1 index finger emoji.
Even if Vilda was technically the coach, this was in wildly poor taste after all the pre-tournament controversy he himself created. It could even certainly be viewed as a direct insult to the players and their rightful gripes about a “leader” who probably shouldn’t have been in charge.
☝️ 𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗔 𝗜𝗡. pic.twitter.com/qmOJbNhAID
— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) August 20, 2023
In September 2022, 15 of Spain’s players maintained they wouldn’t play in this World Cup specifically because of Vilda, alleging he had fostered team conditions of abuse, fear, and bigotry. Only three of said players actually ended up traveling to Australia and New Zealand, with Vilda making the final roster decisions. No wonder there was a lot of talk about how the Spanish players even refused to interact with Vilda on the sideline.
Never mind that Spain’s roster — even without a good portion of its players — appeared to be so talented that any coach could’ve likely made a deep run in the tournament. Vilda was regularly criticized during this World Cup for poor strategic planning and curious lineup management. Yet, the team won it all in spite of him.
The Spanish Football Federation should be taking its players’ concerns about abuse and mistreatment seriously. If Vilda had to remain as the coach during this glorious run after his mess, the least the organization could’ve done is NOT pretend his contributions made any meaningful impact on the best international team in the sport.
The federation leaders should be embarrassed he was highlighted like this anyway.
This was how Twitter reacted
This tweet is a disgrace. Show some respect for the players who have given up on a dream to fight for what they believe in. Grow up. #out https://t.co/1IrcyIFb58
— Beth Fisher (@BethFisherSport) August 20, 2023
Congrats to Spain’s players for winning the Women’s World Cup, a very talented team who were better on the day.
But it’s so disheartening to see RFEF already using the win to validate abusive behaviour. Solidarity with the players who have sacrificed this moment because of that https://t.co/ocW4L14uvx
— Nancy Gillen @ FIFA WWC 🇦🇺 (@Nancy_Gillen) August 20, 2023
Given that he's been accused of abusive and toxic behavior, prompting 12 players to refuse Spanish national team call-ups, this is pretty gross. Shows a lot about the culture within RFEF.
When the whistle blew, I couldn't help but think of those players. My heart breaks for them https://t.co/d747KQWsxY
— Caitlin Murray (@caitlinmurr) August 20, 2023
His players refused to interact with him even after winning a World Cup.
He's called players standing up for fairer treatment "not committed to their country"
Refused responsibility for every loss, taken credir for every win.
This is so, so wrong. https://t.co/yCcxDOth92— Since 71 (@Since71Blog) August 20, 2023
And this is why I was so queasy about this team winning this. They’re totally gonna push the narrative of the abuse being valid and proper https://t.co/IETZWOIE14
— Douglas Reyes-Ceron (@dreyesceron) August 20, 2023
Use your platform wisely they said…
I’m stunned. When you think it can’t be worse than it already was…
— Mia Eriksson (@mia_eriksson) August 20, 2023
This is very weird behavior by the federation and their social account. https://t.co/k8XyJ69DcN
— Kelsey Trainor (@ktrain_11) August 20, 2023
Anyone who thought Spain winning would give the players any leverage of any sort was naive and foolish, they will back him till the bitter end https://t.co/e5521LFLUt
— sophie (@sapphospickle) August 20, 2023
Spain's federation spiking the ball in this moment is definitely a choice. https://t.co/VZVXx709K2
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) August 20, 2023
someone on their social team really said "Yes this is it" https://t.co/OjzJGs7ZDL
— Sandra 💙💯⚽️ (@Sandherrera_) August 20, 2023
I can't explain how disgusting and manipulative this tweet is https://t.co/aAyN139ihs
— mapi (@loberdorf6) August 20, 2023
This is utterly poor from the Spanish FA but else would you expect? They have always backed him instead of the players, and today’s achievement will only mean more of this nonsense continues. It’s a shame. https://t.co/FL0rBqj7Np
— Manasi Pathak (@ManasiPathak_) August 20, 2023
