The Association of Professional Footballers (FUTPRO), an organisation that represent footballers, has survived an attempt to hack its information systems, according to the President of the union, Amanda Gutierrez.
On Monday, Vero Boquete revealed that after the World Cup had ended, Jenni Hermoso‘s phone was hacked, and material was leaked. A video later emerged of Hermoso joking about Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss on the team bus. Teammate Laia Codina and then Boquete later revealed that shortly after they were reminded of the gravity of the situation, and that it was an abuse of power.
Hermoso has released two statements in tandem with FUTPRO and her agency TMJ, in which she condemned Rubiales’ behaviour, confirmed the kiss did not have her consent, and then described it as an assault.
Speaking to Cadena SER, Gutierrez explained that FUTPRO had also been the victim of an unsuccessful hacking attempt.
“It is true that we have had to contact professionals about the hacking issue, because it has reached Futpro. We have had to reinforce our security because we have received hacking attempts.”
She also commented on the situation regarding domestic women’s football in Spain. The top division is yet to get underway, having been due to start two weekends ago, as there is no new agreement on a minimum wage for players. Currently, the minimum wage is €16k per annum, but can drop down to €12k, depending on various factors. Gutierrez notes that negotiations have been ongoing for 11 months, and that 91 players are affected by the issue.
“For a figure that ranges between €190k-€280k, Liga F has not started, they do not want to spend the money. The position of Liga F is that they don’t care, and we are the most affected. We have decided to go down from €23k to €22.5k, but LaLiga remains at €20k.”
She would go on to declare, as has been reported widely, that the statement emitted by the RFEF on Hermoso’s behalf was not her words, and that the Rubiales kiss was non-consensual.
Although it cannot be said for certain who is behind it, it seems there has been a clear attempt to scare and intimidate Hermoso out of action. If they do indeed have all of the personal material from Hermoso’s phone, it could be used to put further pressure on her.
