Verónica Boquete can't quite believe this is still happening.
The former Spanish national team captain, who had been part of the senior set-up for 17 years, thought the time of women footballers risking their careers to force change behind the scenes was over.
But six years after her own national team career came grinding to a halt, frozen out of the side after speaking publicly against an abusive former head coach and the lack of support from Spain's football federation (RFEF), she is watching as 15 current players suffer the same fate.
In 2015, following their poor performances at the Women's World Cup in Canada, Boquete — who captained Spain at the tournament — led a team-wide boycott against Ignacio Quereda, the man who had been head coach of the team for almost three decades.
In a documentary titled Romper El Silencio — Break The Silence — Boquete detailed her experiences playing under Quereda.
She, along with several other players, alleged he was psychologically and verbally abusive, openly homophobic, controlling, manipulative, and created a toxic camp environment. He was allegedly also tactically and technically inept, with zero international titles to his name.
The uproar across Spanish media ultimately led to Quereda resigning, replaced by current head coach Jorge Vilda in late 2015. However, following a scattering of appearances across the next two years, Boquete was phased out and never played for Spain again.
"After 14 years representing my country, they left me out of the European Championship roster without a call, without a text, nothing," Boquete tells ABC from her home in Italy, where she plays for Serie A side Fiorentina.
"I was playing at Paris Saint-Germain at the time. I played the Champions League final. I was one of the best Spanish players and the captain of the national team.
"It was a coaching-technical decision, they said. But I guess our fight to change the coach and the system a year before had consequences.
"We wanted a change. We wanted a coaching staff and management staff that could help us improve. We wanted better and basic conditions, we wanted to see and know that someone was working to improve our sport and also our national team.
"We needed more and better. We deserved more and better."
Back to the future
Despite everything Boquete and her teammates fought for, the 35-year-old is now experiencing unwanted déjà vu.
Last September, following Spain's quarter-final exit from the 2022 Women's European Championships, 15 current national team players sent 15 identical emails to the RFEF.
"I inform you that the events that have occurred and the situation that has arisen in the Spanish national team, a situation of which you are aware, are having an important effect on my emotional state, and by extension my health," the emails said.
"As a result, I do not currently consider myself to be in a condition to be chosen for the national team, and I ask not to be called up until the situation is resolved."
In the space of a few minutes, a golden generation of Spanish footballers, including eight who started in that quarter-final loss to England, resigned.
Two-time Ballon D'Or winner Alexia Putellas, who was sidelined with an ACL injury, was not among them, but posted a collective statement on social media in solidarity with the group now known in Spanish media as Las 15.
"We requested in our communication sent to the RFEF not to be summoned until situations that affect our emotional and personal state, our performance and, consequently, the results of the selection that could lead to undesirable injuries, are reversed," the collective statement said.
"The situation" refers to current boss Vilda, who took over from Quereda. Three weeks before the emails were sent and subsequently leaked to media, a number of players — led by captain Irene Paredes — had contacted RFEF president Luis Rubiales to privately express their concerns over Vilda.
While there was no suggestion of illegal or abusive behaviour, many players consider Vilda to have created an environment of control, anxiety, and stress that has emotionally impacted the squad.
He reportedly forced players to leave the doors to their hotels open at night so that he could verify they were in their rooms, while he would also allegedly check the contents of their bags if they left and returned.
Additionally, his mismanagement of player loads, leading to preventable injuries, as well as his unclear style and training methods had also been criticised.
Like Quereda, Vilda has not won a single title while in charge, despite the "golden generation" of players, including the core of the record-breaking Barcelona team, at his disposal.
"They haven't really talked publicly about everything they want," Boquete says, "but basically they want more and better.
"They want to see a women's soccer strategic plan for the Spanish association, with present and future goals that keep everyone accountable.
"Raise the level from mediocre to high. And to have a coach and staff capable of helping them to win, not just to participate."
The hidden battles
There are other similarities to Boquete's time, too.
Indeed, the current chaos engulfing Spain's national team does not only concern Vilda, but also the federation and its leaders who have supported and shielded him from consequences.
Vilda had been appointed internally after leading Spain's U-17 and U-20 women's national teams. His father, Angel, is currently head of the RFEF's women's department, and also coached Spain's youth women's teams. Jorge started his national team career as his father's assistant in the U-17 side before taking over and climbing up the age ranks.
It was hoped that Vilda's success at youth level, where he won a number of continental titles, would translate into the senior team.
However, after seven years in charge and no silverware to show for it, public sentiment in Spanish football circles has begun to turn against him.
So why is he still around?
According to Spanish outlet El Mundo, Vilda and his father were both pivotal figures in the election of Rubiales as RFEF president in 2018. Initially, the two Vildas allegedly supported a different candidate, Juan Luis Larrea, but ended up voting for Rubiales instead.
Further, Vilda is not just the senior head coach, but also occupies the role of women's technical director, essentially being his own boss and an even more powerful figure in the chain of command at the RFEF.
Whether this director appointment came before or after Rubiales' election as president is unclear, but this particular moment behind the scenes stands out as a key way in which the structure of the federation has disempowered the players themselves.
In a number of public statements, the RFEF has firmly stood by Vilda throughout this tumultuous period; they extended his contract before last year's Euros until 2024, and defended him after the 15 players stood down in September.
"The RFEF will not allow the players to question the continuity of the national coach and his coaching staff, because making those decisions does not fall within their competences," the federation said in a statement.
"These types of manoeuvres are far from exemplary and outside the values of football and sport, and are harmful.
"This has turned from a sporting issue to a question of dignity. Selection is non-negotiable. It is an unprecedented situation in the history of football, both male and female, in the Spanish and world arena."
The RFEF has also threatened to sanction the 15 boycotting players with permanent bans lasting anywhere from two to five years for refusing a national team call-up unless they apologised.
A growing movement
Spain is not the only nation currently navigating tensions with their head coach and football federation.
Last week, France captain Wendie Renard — widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders and one of the most decorated women footballers of all time —stepped down from the team due to ongoing tensions with head coach, Corinne Diacre, and the French Football Federation (FFF).
"I defended the blue, white, and red shirt 142 times with passion, respect, commitment, and professionalism," Renard wrote on social media.
"I love France more than anything. I am not perfect — far from it — but I can no longer support the current system. Not to mention the requirements at the highest level.
"It is a sad, although necessary, day in order to preserve my mental wellbeing. It is with a heavy heart that I inform you with this message that I am stepping back from the French national team. Unfortunately, I will not participate in a World Cup under these conditions.
"My face can hide the pain, but my heart is hurting. I do not want to be in pain any longer. Thank you for your support and respecting my decision."
Her resignation was soon followed by those of PSG strikers Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani, who each released statements saying they would no longer play for France until the situation was resolved.
Diacre, who took charge in 2017, has been accused by multiple players over the years of creating a toxic team culture, including punishing players as a means of asserting control. In one of her first training camps, for example, she stripped Renard of the captaincy, saying the multiple Champions League winner wasn't "at the international level".
Renard was reinstated in 2021, but not before several of her teammates — including Eugenie Le Sommer, Amandine Henry, Gaëtane Thiney, and Sarah Bouhaddi — were omitted from multiple camps due to their own public complaints.
However, like Vilda, Diacre has remained at the helm of France despite this revolving door of senior players and a lack of major titles. She has regularly received support from the FFF and its president, Noël Le Graët, who this week confirmed his resignation amidst a storm of sexual harassment and bullying allegations.
The parallels with Spain are striking: An incumbent head coach against whom multiple players have spoken out for creating toxic camp environments, translating into a lack of trophies at senior level; a federation who has been aware of player complaints for several years but have not acted upon them, forcing some players to temporarily step away or retire from the national team altogether; and a federation president who has stuck by the head coach and defended the organisation through it all.
Unlike Spain, though, there is some hope of resolution with France.
After the recent resignation of Le Graët, Diacre no longer has one of her biggest structural supporters in her corner, with rumours circulating that she will follow his lead and step aside. The FFF confirmed a task force would assess the situation, with a decision on Diacre's future expected on March 9.
Canada, too, is reckoning with their own World Cup future following public player protests against ongoing under-investment and lack of support from the federation, Canada Soccer.
Earlier this month, the Olympic gold medallists threatened to withdraw from the SheBelieves Cup to highlight significant cuts to their team's budget over the past year.
"We have been patiently negotiating with Canada Soccer for more than a year," a statement from the Canadian players' association said.
"Now that our World Cup is approaching, the Women's National Team players are being told to prepare to perform at a world-class level without the same level of support that was received by the Men's National Team in 2022, and with significant cuts to our program — to simply make do with less."
Entire training camps have been cut, squad sizes have shrunk, staff members reduced, and youth pipelines squeezed due to what the federation claims is a "new budget reality".
Earlier this month, several players revealed they weren't paid at all in 2022.
Former international Kaylyn Kyle says Canada Soccer's commercial partner, Canada Soccer Business, turned away potential investors in the women's team, all while the men's team has continued to receive financial boosts from the federation (the men have released their own statement standing in solidarity with the women's team).
The team's proposed boycott of the tournament was met with a threat of legal action from Canada Soccer, which forced the players to participate against their will.
In response, the players wore their jerseys inside-out during training, and posed with purple T-shirts reading "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" as the anthems played during their first match against the USA.
Both teams then stood in a circle of solidarity after their opponents' own very public fight with their federation over the past few years.
Unlike Vilda and Diacre, though, Canada head coach Bev Priestman has sided with the players.
"I'm incredibly proud and honoured to represent the group of players I have in front of me," she said before the SheBelieves Cup.
"What comes out loud and clear to me is they are not just fighting for themselves and the next six months.
"I think what is really strong for this group is to make sure that the next generation of players that come through have the same opportunity to represent themselves and perform at the highest level, just like their counterparts."
While Canada Soccer's legal threats forced the team to compete in the February tournament, the chaos off the field led to the resignation of president Nick Bontis on Tuesday.
However, the deeper structural issues — namely, the lack of power players have inside football's governing bodies — remain unresolved, with the players still reportedly considering strike action going forward.
The paradox of power
Outside of Spain, France and Canada, multiple other women's national teams — including the Matildas, England, and the USA — have performed gestures of solidarity, wearing purple wrist-bands, speaking out in mainstream media, and using their own social media platforms to highlight the ongoing struggle of their colleagues.
Indeed, the Matildas are all too familiar with the risk and reward of strike action, having boycotted a two-match series against the USA following the 2015 Women's World Cup to protest the lack of support from Football Federation Australia at the time.
National teams including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Nigeria, Norway, and New Zealand have all participated in boycotts over the years, while 2011 Women's World Cup winner Yuki Nagasato recently revealed she and other team-mates retired from Japan for similar reasons.
Sarah Gregorius, a former New Zealand international, is currently director of Global Policy & Strategic Relations at FIFPro, the global players' union.
She told the ABC this new wave of boycotts was a reminder that, even as women's football is bigger than it has ever been, those who have been largely responsible for its rise — the players themselves — are, paradoxically, its most powerless group when it comes to creating genuine structural change behind the scenes.
"It's really difficult when players are placed in a precarious position where they're having to do their advocacy for themselves," she said.
"You liken it to an axe swinging over their necks as soon as they start to put their heads above the parapet.
"What we're still actively trying to break down with players is that you don't have to feel grateful for being called up to the national team. Of course, it's a huge honour, but you're an elite player, you're going to a tournament, you are entitled to certain things and you have certain rights. You don't have to put up with whatever your federation gives you.
"The one thing that all players want to do is play, and you know something is seriously wrong when … players walk away from that. It should be the biggest wake-up call and warning sign, because you're giving up the one thing you've dreamed of for your entire life.
"One thing every football competition needs is players. They are the labour; they are the product. So, while they may be structurally disempowered, they are also the greatest point of leverage that they have."
Having been there herself as a player, helping organise the Football Ferns' protests against their head coach and the direction of their federation back in 2018, Gregorius empathises with the dilemma that these players are experiencing.
"It's tough because you have to reconcile with yourself about 'okay, if I'm doing this, it might be the last time I pull on this jersey', and that is so difficult to do," she said.
"I remember having to make that choice and be comfortable with an outcome potentially not going our way, even though you knew you were on the right side of history.
"The fact is that some of the greatest teams with the greatest collective agreements [such as the USA and Australia] have had to go through very painful processes, which have sometimes included strike action or suing their federations or mass public pressure, because unfortunately there are very few federations that will sit down in good faith and negotiate with a shared understanding of the good of the game.
"It's really great that players feel compelled and brave enough to participate in the activism they have, but they just shouldn't have to. It shouldn't be the case, this close to a World Cup, that players are having to publicly protest, and that other players are joining them in solidarity."
Indeed, that three of the nations currently experiencing player protests rank inside the world's top 10 not only serves as a reminder that programs which appear successful on the surface can have much deeper fault lines, but it also speaks to the potential quagmire of issues that are likely occurring throughout lesser-known or less successful national teams; those with even less power and fewer resources to challenge the status quo and drive change from within.
These are nations that are less likely to be fully professional, have no player representation whatsoever, smaller media coverage, and less oversight in terms of governance and financial structures to hold decision-makers to account.
Ultimately, this new wave of boycotts shows that it is still the players themselves who must put their careers on the line to force the game into its next era.
"It's obvious that they have no power and that this situation was not well managed by anyone," Boquete said.
"Right now, the association and coach are on one side, and the 15 (or even more) players are in the other.
"Nobody external is really helping to solve this conflict … I really don't know if, at this point, they want to solve it.
"The system below is rotten and we don't accept it anymore. Sport and women's soccer specifically needs new leadership in management.
"I was really positive about them coming back [for the 2023 Women's World Cup]; I thought they will have some meetings and personal calls and they will find the way to understand each other and work together for the best of our sport.
"But I really have my doubts. Still four to five months left to fix this. Let's hope for the best."
