Spanish soccer's 'Me Too' moment was a decade in the making
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[September 01, 2023]
By Fernando Kallas and Charlie Devereux
MADRID (Reuters) - Outrage over a kiss by the man at the top of
Spanish football on the lips of a female footballer in front of
millions watching the World Cup has snowballed into a "Me Too"
moment building for years in a nation increasingly intolerant of
abuse.
Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales' kiss of
Jenni Hermoso not only soured the World Cup triumph, but has also
triggered a torrent of allegations from other women in sport of
predatory behaviour by men.
"It is the tip of the iceberg publicly of what we used to see
privately," Veronica Boquete, who captained Spain at their first
World Cup in 2015, told Reuters.
The scandal has come after years of increasing disquiet in Spain
over abuse of women, especially after the notorious 2016 "Wolf Pack"
gang-rape of a teenager which prompted the socialist-led government
to reform sexual consent laws.
In the case of football, the women's team's efforts to combat sexism
and achieve parity with their male peers date back nearly a decade.
That includes two dressing room rebellions that ended the
international careers of several players.
Boquete led a mutiny seeking the resignation of coach Ignacio
Quereda after a woeful performance at the 2015 World Cup, the only
one his teams reached in nearly three decades.
Players interviewed in a 2021 Movistar+ documentary, "Breaking the
Silence", described a culture of bullying and condescension under
his tenure.
Quereda did not respond to several requests for comment sent to his
telephone, though at the time he said the players' complaints
"pained him ... Because it isn't true."
The RFEF did not respond to a request for comment about the
accusations against Quereda.
In the documentary, former goalkeeper Roser Serra said Quereda would
pick on younger players in front of the team, calling them fat or
saying they "needed a man". Footage shows him pinching players'
cheeks or pulling them by the ear.
"He treated us like little girls. It made him feel like the powerful
one within the pack," Mar Prieto, who played for Spain between 1985
and 2000, told the documentary makers.
Prieto accused Quereda of trying to control every aspect of their
lives, checking bags when they went shopping and insisting they
sleep with hotel rooms open on tour.
'NOT NORMAL'
No official complaint was filed because players were scared, Boquete
said. "Many people also normalized behaviours or attitudes or
comments that were obviously not normal."
The RFEF did not respond to a Reuters request for details of
complaints made about mistreatment of players over the past ten
years and how they had been addressed, as well as details of
protocols for training administrative staff and the reporting of
such complaints.
On its website, it has a detailed document from July 2021
identifying harassment and abuse risks to children and adolescents
training in its clubs, with strict guidelines on how administrative
staff can avoid creating hostile atmospheres.
But Reuters could find no guidance documents specific to gender
harassment or sexism.
Quereda resigned in 2015 in a statement issued by the federation
making no reference to the players' mutiny.
He was replaced by the current coach Jorge Vilda.
Danae Boronat, a sports presenter, told Reuters that some habits
continued under Vilda, including keeping hotel room doors open so
behaviour could be monitored.
Boronat, who interviewed Spain's leading female players for her book
"Don't Call Them Girls, Call Them Footballers", said players accused
Vilda of micromanaging, such as instructing senior players what to
say in interviews.
[to top of second column] |
Soccer Football - International Friendly
- America v FC Barcelona - Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico -
August 29, 2023 FC Barcelona and Club America players hold a banner
in support of Spain's Jennifer Hermoso and a shirt that reads "Jenni
for you and for all of us". FIFA has suspended the president of the
Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, following an
investigation after he kissed her during the trophy ceremony for the
Women's World Cup final. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File Photo
Vilda also cut from the squad several of the
ringleaders who sought Quereda's removal, including Boquete, at a
time widely viewed as the peak of her career.
In September last year, 15 members of his squad also went on strike
demanding changes in working conditions such as a physiotherapist
and business class travel to ensure they were rested before games:
standard conditions for men's national teams.
Most of the players involved were cut out of the squad even as some
demands were met.
Vilda, who is facing possible sacking in coming days as part of the
fallout from Rubiales' kiss, did not respond to a Reuters request
for comment sent to the RFEF.
But after the mutiny last year, he told a November press conference
that instead of false insinuations, any player should go public if
they had not received "untarnished treatment of impeccable respect"
from him.
SEXISM AT ALL LEVELS
Echoing the #MeToo movement's exposing of abuses by powerful men
around the globe in recent years, Spanish female sports journalists
have also alleged sexist behaviour.
Reporter Berta Collado was once left speechless when Atletico Madrid
president Enrique Cerezo responded to a question on camera by
referring to her breasts. Recalling that this week, she praised the
women's team for "calling things as they are".
Cerezo in 2018 also told a female television reporter who had asked
about the club´s cashflow that it was rude to talk about money,
"especially with women."
When challenged by other journalists, he angrily rejected the
question as "the most stupid thing ever" and "your problem". "I have
nothing against women," he added.
Carlota Planas, founder of women's football agency Unik Sports
Management which represents several of the World Cup winners, said
sexism exists at all levels of the sport, from grassroots to
national team.
"It cannot be that because you practice a sport you expose yourself
to these things happening," Planas said.
Regional leaders of the RFEF have promised structural changes, but
Boronat said she did not expect an immediate culture change given
male dominance of the federation.
But those men will now be under more scrutiny, she added.
"What has happened is very good because it has brought to light the
type of people who are there, their way of behaving and how they
protect themselves," Boronat said. "We are closer, but from one day
to the next this is very difficult to change."
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas and Charlie Devereux; additional
reporting by Emma Pinedo and Aislinn Laing; editing by Aislinn Laing
and Andrew Cawthorne)
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