The messy dispute between Spain's soccer federation and its Women's World Cup-winning players reignited Monday with a devilish ploy that Jenni Hermoso called "manipulation" — and that proved, even with Luis Rubiales gone and Jorge Vilda fired, that "nothing has changed," Hermoso said.
All but two of the players, citing insufficient changes, had asked last Friday not to be selected for upcoming games against Sweden and Switzerland. On Monday, the now-infamous Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) selected most of them anyway.
Players were reportedly shocked. Hermoso said in a statement that they were all "certain that this is yet another strategy of division and manipulation to intimidate and threaten us with legal repercussions and economic sanctions.