Jenni Hermoso has shared her frustrations at being excluded from Spain’s national women’s football team for upcoming matches against Sweden and Switzerland.
According to USA Today, when explaining why Hermoso, who’s Spain's all-time leading scorer was not included, new coach Montse Tomé called it the ‘best way to protect her.’
‘Protect me from what?’ Hermoso began the statement she shared in both Spanish and English on her social media channels.
‘Let's be clear: a claim was made today stating that the environment within the federation would be safe for my colleagues to rejoin yet at the same press conference it was announced that they were not calling me as a means to protect me,’ Hermoso wrote, referencing player safety within the team.
Spain won the Women's World Cup in Australia on August 20, but the team's success has been overshadowed by former Spain football chief, Luis Rubiales', actions during the celebrations after the final whistle. Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the mouth, which she has said was nonconsensual.
Appearing in court for the first time this week, Rubiales, who has resigned from his position as head of the football federation (RFEF), denied sexually assaulting Ms Hermoso but a judge issued him with a restraining order anyway. Rubiales was banned by a judge from going within 200m of Hermoso.
Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
