BarcelonaThe Women’s World Cup will start on July 20, four months from now, and the conflict between the 15 players of the national team who refused to be called up until conditions improve and the Spanish Federation (RFEF) is far from being resolved. In fact, there has been no group meeting between one side and the other since they sent the letter announcing the decision to the highest body of Spanish football in September. Anyway, the footballers still hold out hope that there will be a turnaround in the remaining time. But, no matter how close the positions are, hardly all 15, without exceptions, will be selected again.
As the ARA has been able to learn from sources close to both the federation and the players, the state football body does not feel equally upset with all those involved in the matter. Thus, there are some footballers with whom the conflict is more pronounced than with others. In fact, it is ensured that there is a black list of the RFEF and another of Jorge Vilda in which three important players of Barça and of the absolute Spanish selection appear: Aitana Bonmatí, Mapi León and Mariona Caldentey. Aitana and Mapi are there because the state considers that they were two of the players who took the lead in the demands. Mariona’s case has to do with Vilda’s personal disappointment that her name was among the 15. “Right now he can’t even see her”, they say from the Balearic area.
In a recent interview with this newspaper, Bonmatí explained that “the improvements” they have asked for and continue to ask for are not “because yes”. The Sant Pere de Ribes midfielder also said that the situation is “at a delicate moment” and that she would like “the two sides” to come closer and that, at least, they could “talk” because the players want to be heard by the good for women’s football. “Out with pride and out with everything: there are many things at stake”, he assured.
The Barça midfielder is taking steps to get back on track with the federation ahead of the World Cup. Despite the fact that the Ribeta player was one of the most vindictive at the origin of the conflict, sources familiar with the movement recall that it was agreed upon by the vast majority of the players, including those of Real Madrid. In fact, the captains Irene Paredes, Jennifer Hermoso and Alexia Putellas were the ones who first met with Vilda to explain the situation to her. Later, after the meeting with the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, the Madrid players distanced themselves from the claim. This gesture generated some tension in the classic first leg of Liga F. The second leg is contested this Saturday (6.15 p.m., DAZN) at the Johan Cruyff stadium, with the competition almost settled for the Cullers, who have 10 points advantage with full of victories.
Another of the three players who have spoken out about the conflict in recent weeks is León. “I’ve been to European Cups and World Cups and at the end you have a stress where you feel that the team is not getting the most out of it, and it makes you sad. But, well, you say: “Come on, we’ll get it out”, and in the end you don’t get it because everything doesn’t depend on us”, he explained in an interview with Sports world. “I consider that there are some things that must be changed and if they are not changed, we will not go to the World Cup. I mean, I want to go there, yes. Will it screw me if I don’t go in the end? I’m going to be screwed, obviously I’m going to be really screwed because it’s a really big opportunity. But there are values and beliefs that go ahead”, added the Aragonese central.
The doubt of Alexia Putellas
However, the other three Barça players who signed the letter do not appear on the federation’s and Jorge Vilda’s blacklists: goalkeeper Sandra Paños and midfielders Clàudia Pina and Patri Guijarro. However, this does not mean that they have free rein to return to the roja. Everything will depend on whether talks between the parties finally take place, whether the federation is willing to incorporate the improvements that the players claim and whether, if there are improvements, the footballers consider them sufficient to reconsider their decision.
There are two more Barça players who were indisputable in the national team before the letter was sent who are in a different situation: the two-time Ballon d’Or Alexia and Paredes, who was the captain of the national team in last summer’s European Championship. The demand for improvements caught Alexia at the beginning of her recovery from her serious cruciate injury that she suffered precisely just before the dispute of the European tournament and the Barça midfielder decided not to add her name to the letter. However, he made a post on Instagram with the content of the missive and in several interviews and in his documentary he has expressed himself in the same direction as the 15. But he has never said what he will do when he recovers from his injury , a time which could take place before the end of the club season and therefore before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Paredes, for his part, did not adhere to the letter of 15. But he was the one who showed his face as captain, together with the Blaugrana player Guijarro and the ex-Blaugrana player Hermoso, at the press conference that the players offer to give explanations after the letter was made public. In fact, she was accused of being one of the instigators of this movement. Since that moment, Paredes has not been summoned and maintains the same position as her colleagues.
But the Vilda lists without the 15 have also had a Barcelona presence. Full-back Nuria Rábano, central Laia Codina and forward Salma Paralluelo, who on Tuesday scored the goal that gave Barça victory in Rome in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League, have indeed been part of some of the calls.