The general secretary of FIFA, Fatma Samoura, stated this Wednesday in Seville that “what happened in Australia should not be repeated”
For the FIFA general secretary, “sometimes” women “have to face this type of discrimination that should not happen”
The Secretary General of FIFA, Fatma Samoura stated this Wednesday in Seville that “what happened in Australia should not be repeated again”in reference to the kiss on the mouth of the former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales to the player Jenni Hermoso in the celebration of the title won by Spain in the Women’s World Cup.
Samoura, Senegalese FIFA official who participated in a panel at the ‘World Football Summit’ 2023a leading platform in the soccer industry, regretted that, due to Rubiales’s attitude, “something that should have been a day of celebration became a tragedy for soccer” and stressed: “Women deserve to be respected in sport and, in general, in society, and these issues should not occur”.
For the FIFA general secretary, “sometimes” women “have to face this type of discrimination that should not happen,” since Soccer matches are organized “to give joy and happiness to the players, first, to the country that wins, second, and to the world’s ‘fans’, thirdly, but what happened in Australia should not be repeated”.
“As football leaders we have to observe certain behaviors and respect the players. And they (the Spanish team) made it clear. Just a month has passed since the victory and the headlines have never been about the celebration, but about what happened that day at the medal ceremony,” he insisted.
Samoura highlighted that for two years he “witnessed the organization of that World Cup” in Australia and New Zealand, from July 20 to August 20, and could not hide his “happiness at seeing the success and celebration of the Spanish women’s team.” , hence She regretted that she was “tarnished by that kiss”, a behavior about which the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, said at the time that “should never have happened”.
The general secretary of the highest world football body was also “very happy” that “an agreement” had been reached between the Higher Sports Council (CSD), the RFEF and the Spanish players to try to unblock the situation that It had been created in the national team, when the players initially requested that they not be called up for the next two matches of the Nations League pending changes in the federative body.
“A tripartite commission is going to be created with the CSD, the Spanish Federation and also the players. Now there is a more favorable environment for the (Spanish) national team to play on Friday against Sweden and on Tuesday with Switzerland, which means that, finally, we are seeing the end of the tunnel of this nightmare,” stressed the Senegalese leader..
Samoura considered that this “nightmare” then prevented “everyone from being able to celebrate this historic victory of the Spanish national team” and added about this case that he “likes to trust the institutions that deal with these issues within FIFA,” in which that “all these solutions have been welcomed with open arms because, in the end, a day of celebration turned into a tragedy.”