WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Aitana responds to Dani Carvajal’s unsupportive comments on RFEF changes: “I’m a bit tired”
The World Cup winner responded to Dani Carvajal’s unhelpful remarks about the situation regarding the Spanish women’s team.
If you’ve not been following the war of words between World Cup winner Aitana Bonmatí and Real Madrid right-back, Dani Carvajal, then here is an explainer. Via the media, the pair have been going back and forth over the level of support that the men’s team showed to the women’s team during the Rubiales incident and the consequences that has had on sport as a whole, with Aitana the latest to repsond following Carvajal’s somewhat dismissive comments.
“Everyone is conscious of what they do and of what they don’t do” were Aitana’s initial words after flatly responding “no” to the question of whether or not she and her teammates felt the support of the men’s team during the fallout from the Jenni Hermoso kiss incident.
Spain’s weak statement was not enough for the women’s team
The men’s team had, when the scandal was at its highest, released a statement with phrases such as “we want to reject what we consider unacceptable behaviour on the part of Mr. Rubiales, who has not lived up to the institution he represents”. At the time, given the wishy-washy words and ill-timed applause from their manager, Luis de la Fuente, as well as other male figures, the statement did little to convey a true sense of fully backing their female counterparts.
“We firmly and unequivocally stand on the side of the values that this sport represents”, the statement continued. “Spanish football must be a driving force for respect, inspiration, inclusion, and diversity and must set an example with its behaviour both on and off the field. Starting today, we face a crucial training camp for the future of Spanish football on our path to qualify for Euro 2024 with two matches against Georgia and Cyprus. We would like to focus on sporting matters from now on, considering the importance of the challenges ahead.” I will now leave it to the reader to make up their own opinion on the contents of the choice of words from the men’s team.
Carvajal unsupportive of Aitana
Aitana’s negative feelings towards the response from the men’s team were relayed to Real Madrid right-back, Dani Carvajal, who responded in quite an unhelpful manner, saying that “I don’t know what she’s referring to, if we should support them more or not. In the end, what happened is what happened. They are restructuring what they think or what they don’t feel comfortable with in the Federation. Or they’re trying to restructure all the staff, everything to do with marketing, communication, etc. We’re just focused on what we’ve got coming up, which is to win and focus on our things.”
The RFEF has seen a huge restructuring thanks to the changes implemented by the women’s team, with players such as Alexia Putellas highlighting the “systematic discrimination against women” which caused the players to boycott: Carvajal’s comments have done nothing to help.
As for the UEFA Women’s Player of 2023, Aitana has now responded, saying that she “hasn’t heard it. I don’t know what he said. I don’t have anything else to say on the matter. I was very clear in the interview, the whole of Spain saw it. It’s done and dusted and I’m not going to speak about it anymore”, Aitana said while also admitting she was “a little bit tired” of the whole thing. Us too, Aitana.