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By Emmanuel Adeleke
World Cup-winning coach, Jorge Vilda, has been sacked by the Spanish Football Association amid the ongoing kissing row surrounding its president, Luis Rubiales.
Vilda led Spain to a 1-0 win over England as they won their first Women’s World Cup on August 20, 16 days before his dismissal.
However, his connections with the suspended Rubiales have since come back to haunt him.
In an open letter on Tuesday, stand-in Spanish Football Association President, Pedro Rocha, promised to restructure the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), and apologised for the “enormous damage” caused by Rubiales’ actions.
The RFEF later released a statement confirming Vilda’s sack.
“The RFEF, in one of the first renewal measures announced by president Pedro Rocha, has decided to dispense with the services of Jorge Vilda as sports director and women’s national coach
“We value his impeccable personal and sporting conduct, being a key piece in the notable growth of women’s football in Spain. During his extensive period, Vilda has been a promoter of the values of respect and sportsmanship in football,” it read.
All 11 of Vilda’s backroom colleagues had already resigned in protest over the ongoing crisis surrounding Rubiales, who was pictured kissing Women’s team forward, Jenni Hermoso, on the lips during the on-field celebrations in Australia.
Vilda himself came under fire for applauding Rubiales’ “extraordinary comments” during a subsequent press conference, in which the RFEF President repeatedly refused to resign and hit out at fake feminists.