Spain appoints first woman to coach women’s national team after kiss scandal

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Spain’s soccer federation RFEF has appointed Montse Tome to succeed the fired Jorge Vilda as the women’s national team coach, making her the first woman to manage the side, it said on Tuesday.

Tome had been Vilda’s assistant coach since 2018 and has since “established herself as a key player in the national team’s growth”, the RFEF said in a statement.

Vilda’s contract was terminated earlier on Tuesday by the federation’s new board, which was formed after the suspension of RFEF President Luis Rubiales by FIFA over his allegedly non-consensual kiss of a Spanish player after the team won the Women’s World Cup two weeks ago.

Rubiales, who first called critics “idiots” then apologised, says the kiss was innocent and consensual and had refused to quit despite mounting criticism and calls for his resignation.