Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati has given a scathing assessment of Spain’s response to their World Cup victory, claiming that it hasn’t changed much. La Roja fought through adversity with a coach and president that caused several players to sit the tournament out due to their lack of professionalism, before forward Jenni Hermoso was kissed without her consent by Luis Rubiales.
Yet on a purely footballing level, as well as the wider fight for equality, Bonmati told L’Equipe (as covered by Relevo) that she felt that the World Cup had not had the impact desired on women’s football in Spain.
“Unfortunately, I can’t say that much has changed. We have the example of England and when they won the Euros.”
“We saw a big change after this success on a national level, there were repercussions, investments in the league, the stadiums are full when England play. I can’t say it’s the same here, there’s a lot left to do, I get the impression that the World Cup was in vain.”
Frequently Spain‘s women’s team have suffered from poor organisation and a lack of a professional setup in recent years, and there have been instances of that since. Irene Paredes was forced to sit out an international match with Italy due to an administrative issue by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), while the scheduling and venues of La Roja’s game have been criticised too in recent months. Spain face Italy in the Nations League final on Wednesday evening at La Cartuja at 19:00 CEST.
