Fans ripped the Spanish Football Federation for celebrating controversial Jorge Vilda after World Cup win

Thanks to Spain’s dominance, Sunday’s 2023 World Cup Final was largely without drama. La Roja took the lead in the 29th minute over England after an Olga Carmona goal. They would hold firm for the rest of the match en route to a 1-0 victory and the nation’s first-ever Women’s World Cup title.

But the way the Spanish Football Federation’s Twitter account treated the celebrations after the fact has deservedly ruffled some feathers in the soccer world. The official account posted a photo of Spain head coach Jorge Vilda kissing the championship trophy with a caption of “Vilda In” and a No. 1 index finger emoji.

Even if Vilda was technically the coach, this was in wildly poor taste after all the pre-tournament controversy he himself created. It could even certainly be viewed as a direct insult to the players and their rightful gripes about a “leader” who probably shouldn’t have been in charge.

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— Selección Española Femenina de Fútbol (@SEFutbolFem) August 20, 2023

In September 2022, 15 of Spain’s players maintained they wouldn’t play in this World Cup specifically because of Vilda, alleging he had fostered team conditions of abuse, fear, and bigotry. Only three of said players actually ended up traveling to Australia and New Zealand, with Vilda making the final roster decisions. No wonder there was a lot of talk about how the Spanish players even refused to interact with Vilda on the sideline.

Never mind that Spain’s roster — even without a good portion of its players — appeared to be so talented that any coach could’ve likely made a deep run in the tournament. Vilda was regularly criticized during this World Cup for poor strategic planning and curious lineup management. Yet, the team won it all in spite of him.

The Spanish Football Federation should be taking its players’ concerns about abuse and mistreatment seriously. If Vilda had to remain as the coach during this glorious run after his mess, the least the organization could’ve done is NOT pretend his contributions made any meaningful impact on the best international team in the sport.

The federation leaders should be embarrassed he was highlighted like this anyway.