Women’s World Cup kiss: Spain women’s coach Jorge Vilda fired amid Rubiales controversy

The Spanish football federation (RFEF) fired women’s national team coach Jorge Vilda on Tuesday, less than three weeks after his team won the Women’s World Cup title and amid the controversy involving suspended federation president Luis Rubiales.

The RFEF has appointed Montse Tome to succeed Vilda as coach, making her the first woman to manage the side, it said on Tuesday.

Tome had been Vilda’s assistant coach since 2018 and has since “established herself as a key player in the national team’s growth”, the RFEF said in a statement.

Vilda was among those who applauded Rubiales when he refused to resign despite facing widespread criticism for kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips without her consent during the title celebrations in Sydney last month.

Rubiales, who also grabbed his crotch in a lewd victory gesture after the final, has been provisionally suspended by Fifa and is facing a Spanish government case against him for the conduct that prompted a storm of criticism and led to widespread calls for his resignation.

Vilda later said Rubiales’ behaviour was improper. Men’s coach Luis de la Fuente also applauded Rubiales’ diatribe against what he called “false feminists,” and apologised on Friday for having clapped in what he described an “inexcusable human error.”