How the men's game in Spain has, or hasn't, reacted to the Luis Rubiales case

30/08/2023 at 11:24 CEST

Some have spoken out but others have remained silent ahead of the announcement of the Spain squad on Friday

The Spain squad for their next two matches will be announced this Friday: the away game against Georgia and the Cyprus game in Granada, which will be the first home game after the crisis unleashed in the RFEF over the Luis Rubiales affair. The list will be announced by a questioned Luis de la Fuente, whose future is at stake off the pitch. It comes after the resounding silence of the internationals who won the Nations League.

None of them have spoken out publicly in favour of Jenni Hermoso and their position has been in line with the official stance maintained by their clubs. This is the dominant trend in men's football, broken only by the firm stances of players such as Borja Iglesias, who, despite not knowing "whether he would have the chance to do so again," decided to resign from the national team "until things change and this type of act does not go unpunished."

Sergi Roberto & Trejo

De la Fuente's squad that won the Nations League was as follows: Kepa, Unai Simón, David Raya, David García, Le Normand, Carvajal, Laporte, Jordi Alba (who will retire from the national team), Bernat, Jesús Navas, Rodri, Gavi, Fabián Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Sergio Canales, Zubimendi, Morata, Asensio, Joselu, Rodrigo Moreno, Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Yeremy Pino.

Some, such as Jesús Navas, congratulated the women's national team on the World Cup win and took part in the events organised by their teams. But self-censorship has been the dominant note among the captains of the Primera División teams. Only two dressing room leaders - -Sergi Roberto and Oscar Trejo -- broke their silence on their own initiative. Iago Aspas, who was also called up by De la Fuente, criticised Rubiales' attitude on 'Ser.'

David de Gea, who despite 45 full international caps has not been on a list since 2021, said his ears were "bleeding" after Rubiales' 'no resignation' speech. Raúl García, who was once Athletic Club's captain and has also been an international, considered it "very sad what is happening" and sided with Jenni Hermoso.

Cañizares: "It's politics"

In the cases of the aforementioned captains, Rayo's Trejo, who is also a member of the RFEF assembly, proclaimed that "there are attitudes and behaviours that we cannot ignore."

Sergi Roberto shared Alexia Putellas' "It's over", which unleashed a torrent of reactions. He did so by showing his support: "We are with you!" Jules Koundé also shared Hermoso's statement on his social networks, which said she had felt "vulnerable and the victim of an aggression without any kind of consent."

The same action was taken by Aurelien Tchouaméni, the only Real Madrid player to take sides in the situation.

Former Spain goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares defended on 'Cope' that many players "do not want to give their opinion" because "the matter has entered fully into politics." This reaction was widely criticised and conflicts with the statements made and demanded of the professionals when episodes such as the racist insults to Vinicius occurred.

"This is not a political issue, it's a social issue, and to say that it's a political issue is to throw stones", reproached journalist Mónica Marchante.

The media played a fundamental role in cracking the footballers' failure to appear in this matter.

Telecinco' went to Betis' training session last Friday, the team where most critical voices have been raised against Rubiales, with Hector Bellerin and Isco also speaking in addition to Iglesias.

"It's not right, to be honest. It was out of place. If it wasn't consented to, it's an abuse of power," Isco stated forcefully.

Pellegrini criticises Borja Iglesias

In addition to Iglesias, Isco and Bellerín, Betis' Aitor Ruibal also denounced what happened.

Ruibal apologised to Hermoso: "All those who know me know my thoughts and opinions on this subject. Perhaps, out of prudence, I have not said anything before, but I think I have the right to support Jenni in this matter. I appreciate your courage in taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again in the future."

Bellerin said: "It is a disgrace what is happening. To represent our country with such vulgarity, to misrepresent the victim's statements and then to have the courage to blame her and victimise herself for having committed an abuse, these are acts that cannot go unpunished."

The Betis players, in particular Iglesias, found a discordant voice in their own dressing room.

"It's not for me to analyse Borja. Personally, I think that defending your national team is always the best thing to do. I don't think it's a reason [to step aside]. I disagree with my player, I think he will rectify," said Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini.

His opinion was in line with that expressed by most of the coaches, many of them ex-footballers (some of them linked to Rubiales, especially for their role in the players' association the AFE), who spoke after the barrage of questions they received on the subject.

Vicente Moreno, friend of Rubiales

LaLiga coaches Ancelotti (Madrid), Benítez (Celta), Aguirre (Mallorca), Simeone (Atlético), Arrasate (Osasuna), Valverde (Athletic), Sergio (Cádiz), Baraja (Valencia) and García Pimienta (Las Palmas) all criticised Rubiales' behaviour at the World Cup celebrations.

Setién (Villarreal) considered that "he should have resigned"; Míchel (Girona) said that "it should not have happened"; Alguacil (Real Sociedad) called it "unacceptable"; Francisco (Rayo) called for "the action of the bodies"; Luis García Plaza (Alavés) called for "condemnation, in life in general, of sexist actions"; and Mendilibar (Sevilla) was confident that Rubiales was going to resign, "which says it all."

Meanwhile, Paco López (Granada) avoided direct condemnation. "We are in such a mediatised world that any gesture or act, especially when you have a public responsibility, is going to be looked at with a magnifying glass. Let everyone judge their own actions. Too much has already been said on the subject."

Aitor Paredes, Athletic Club player, also put forward the argument of over-information: "There are already enough opinions. For me it was the wrong thing to do: it wasn't the time or the place, but I don't want to say much more."

Of all the coaches, Vicente Moreno (Almeria) was the only one who did not mention Rubiales, deflecting the issue of "taking the spotlight away from what the women's national team has done." He was a team-mate at Xerez of the disqualified federation president.

In fact, when it was the controversy of the audios of the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia and Gerard Piqué, Moreno, who at the time coached Espanyol, defended 'Rubi', as he calls him: "I think he is an honest guy, I can only speak well of him."

In a similar vein, Luis Enrique, former Spain coach with the Andalusian at the helm, said: "His work at the RFEF has been outstanding, he has already acknowledged his mistakes."

Iniesta & Xavi

In the face of the players' silence, the coaches have acted as spokespersons, hence their public importance. Xavi had to amend the lukewarm statement from his club, to which Jenni Hermoso was not mentioned.

"I want to give all my unconditional support to Jenni and the players for what they are going through at the moment and, secondly, I condemn the conduct of the president of the Federation, which I find totally unacceptable and intolerable," the Barcelona coach said at the start of his pre-match press conference before facing Villarreal, without anyone asking him.

Despite the silence of the internationals who will be called up by Luis de la Fuente, it was, precisely, the man who brought about the most important page in Spanish men's football, the author of one of the most forceful testimonies.

"We have had to put up with a president who has clung on to his position, who has not admitted that his behaviour has been unacceptable and who is damaging the image of our country and our football around the world," said Andrés Iniesta, who is still playing.