2023-08-29 13:11:29
Barcelona September 22, 2022 is marked in red on the calendar because it marks the beginning of the conflict between the RFEF and a large part of the international players. That day, the Federation’s mailbox received a handful of identical mails from fifteen players of the Spanish national team announcing that they were emotionally affected by the situation they were experiencing and that, until it was reversed, they were giving up playing with the national team spanish The RFEF responded vehemently, stating that they would not allow the players to question the continuity of Jorge Vilda and his coaching staff. The cold war between Rubiales and the fifteen rebels had become a public conflict.
That same day, the Catalan Football Federation (FCF) announced the return of the women’s team after a 3-year absence. Joan Soteras, president of the FCF, confirmed that Venezuela would be the rival of the Catalans and that the match was scheduled to be held in the first half of November. That period coincided with the FIFA dates for the absolute selections and Spain had scheduled two games against Japan and Argentina. Soteras also announced that the match against the South American team would not be the only one: Catalonia would play another friendly in the second quarter of 2023.
The rigging of the FCF elections as an excuse to hide Rubiales’ order
On October 11, FCF surprised everyone by canceling Catalonia-Venezuela. Soteras argued that “the circumstances of the context” did not allow “the celebration of the party”. At the time, the Catalan Federation was waiting for the Catalan Sports Court (TCE) to decide whether the elections of May 26, 2022 were valid, because Àlex Talavera and Juanjo Isern, the other two candidates, denounced multiple irregularities on the day of the polls.
Soteras’ excuse had nothing to do with women’s soccer, but her justification was definitive. The reality, however, was quite different. Luis Rubiales, then president of the RFEF, had a hot potato: the fifteen mutineers remained firm in their demands, but he was not prepared to leave his friend Jorge Vilda aside. At this juncture, the game between Catalonia and Venezuela was a toothache because Xavi Llorens, the Catalan coach, would have summoned Aitana Bonmatí, Andrea Pereira, Laia Aleixandri, Leila Ouahabi, Ona Batlle and Claudia Pina.
Rubiales could not allow these six footballers to play with the Catalan national team when they had refused to do so with the Spanish team and he moved quickly. He contacted Joan Soteras, his vice president at the RFEF, to urge him to cancel the match. And Soteras, Rubiales’ right-hand man throughout his term, prioritized the interests of the Spanish Federation over the return of the Catalan national team. The Sabadellian chose to please Rubiales, who was not ready to give the FIFA permission necessary for the celebration of the match, and erased Catalonia-Venezuela from the map to avoid an image that would have been hurtful to the interests of the RFEF. Nothing more was heard about the match that Catalonia had to play in the second quarter of 2023.
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