Spanish players Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro announced on Wednesday that they were leaving the training camp of the women’s national team, despite the agreement reached with the government and the Federation to end the strike of part of the group .
Leon and Guijarro were not part of the post-Rubiales strike strikers but were not present during the World Cup victory in Sydney, protesting for months against the dysfunctions of Spanish women’s football. These are the only two players called by coach Montse Tomé to leave the group so far.
“It’s true that the situation for me and Patri is different from that of the rest of our teammates, we know that it was not the right way to come back, because at the end of the day we are not in a position to say: now you come back, no, it’s a process,” Mapi Leon told the media as she left the hotel in Oliva, near Valencia.
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“We are satisfied because things are changing and we fully support our teammates in this process,” added the FC Barcelona defender.
Both players were among 15 who went on strike ahead of the World Cup and, unlike other internationals, did not change their position ahead of the competition.
“It’s very difficult and very hard, and personally, being here, it’s obvious that mentally we are not in the condition to be here,” Patri Guijarro told the press.
The new coach of Spain, Montse Tomé, created a surprise on Monday by summoning Guijarro and Leon for the matches against Sweden on Friday and Switzerland next week, as well as around fifteen world champions who had nevertheless requested not to be selected before profound changes within the football federation (RFEF).
Following the scandal of the forced kiss of former RFEF president Luis Rubiales to footballer Jenni Hermoso after the world title in Australia, these footballers considered that the resignation of Mr. Rubiales and the dismissal of coach Jorge Vilda were insufficient.
They ended up agreeing on Wednesday to rejoin the selection, following an agreement with the Federation and the government, which promised “immediate changes”.