Spain’s World Cup-winning squad have agreed to end their boycott of the national team after the Spanish football federation said they would make “immediate and profound changes” to their structure.
The decision was reached in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after more than seven hours of talks between players, federation officials, the women’s players’ union, FUTPRO, and Spain’s National Sports Council. Neither the federation nor the council would elaborate on the changes to be made, but this morning said they would be announced “soon”.
Players had said they would not represent the national team until there were changes, deepening a crisis that started when then federation president Luis Rubiales kissed forward Jenni Hermoso following their World Cup triumph over England last month.
The kiss, which Hermoso said was not consensual, eventually led to Rubiales’ resignation, while Spain manager Jorge Vilda was sacked.
Two of the 23 players called up for upcoming Nations League games have chosen to pull out of the squad.
Speaking this morning, Spanish secretary of state for sports, Victor Francos, said: “A joint commission will be created between [the federation], [council] and players to follow up on the agreements, which will be signed tomorrow. The players have expressed their concern about the need for profound changes in the [federation], which has committed to making these changes immediately.”
The players were on Wednesday afternoon due to hold their first training session since the World Cup, before travelling to Gothenburg on Thursday for a game against Sweden on Friday.
