GOTHENBORG, Sweden (Reuters) – The Spanish women’s soccer team has been subjected to systematic discrimination over the past decades, star player Alexia Putellas said on Thursday after a standoff with the federation following the former soccer chief’s allegedly unsolicited kiss on a player’s lips.
Two-time Ballon d’Or winner Putellas also told a news conference in Gothenborg ahead of Friday’s Nations League match against Sweden that the players had never called for any coach to be fired.
Her teammate Irene Paredes said the conflict with the federation could be a “point of inflection”, although the players had yet to “see the light at the end of the tunnel” despite support from women all across the world.
Paredes said the players had felt alone during much of the standoff and criticised the Spanish government for being slow to intervene in the situation.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Charlie Devereux)
