Former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales has been banned from all activities related to the sport for three years, FIFA announced Monday.
The ban comes after Rubiales’ nonconsensual kiss of star midfielder Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup final. He also threw another Spanish player over his shoulder and was seen grabbing his crotch during Spain’s 1-0 win over England, and his behavior resulted in multiple investigations into his conduct.
While Rubiales initially refused calls to resign, he stepped down on Sept. 10, though he remained defiant in the face of the backlash against him. His decision to resign came after he received a provisional suspension from FIFA, the Spanish government attempted to have him removed and Hermoso filed a criminal complaint against him.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), from all football-related activities at national and international levels for three years, having found that he acted in breach of article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code,” FIFA said in a statement Monday. “This case relates to the events that occurred during the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on 20 August 2023, for which Mr Rubiales had been provisionally suspended for an initial period of 90 days.
“Mr Rubiales has been notified of the terms of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee’s decision today. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, he has ten days in which to request a motivated decision, which, if requested, would subsequently be published on legal.fifa.com. The decision remains subject to a possible appeal before the FIFA Appeal Committee.
“FIFA reiterates its absolute commitment to respecting and protecting the integrity of all people and ensuring that the basic rules of decent conduct are upheld.”
While Rubiales has maintained his innocence, saying the kiss was consensual, Spanish prosecutors have charged him with sexual assault and coercion. They also say Rubiales attempted to put pressure on both Hermoso and her family to say that the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso has maintained that the kiss was not consensual, saying she felt “disrespected” and was left unprotected “as an employee of the federation.”
The 33-year-old midfielder returned to the national team last week for the first time since the World Cup final, scoring the game-winning goal in Spain’s 1-0 Nations League victory over Italy.
Becky Sauerbrunn is back with the U.S. women’s national team, and back to wearing her traditional No. 4, which had been on loan to rising star Naomi Girma in her absence.
Girma wore the No. 4 jersey during the World Cup. But on Monday, the 23-year-old center-back said there “wasn’t a fight” when it came to returning the jersey number to Sauerbrunn.
“Becky just takes it back,” she said. “It was no fight. I asked to wear it during the World Cup.”
Sauerbrunn, though, was happy to loan the jersey to her fellow center-back for the tournament. The 38-year-old USWNT veteran missed the World Cup with a foot injury and is making her return to the team at the October training camp.
“She was actually really sweet. I got this wonderful text message from her,” Sauerbrunn said before turning to Girma. “And really, you didn’t need to ask because you needed to wear a number that was between 1 and 23.”
Girma “realized that after” she reached out to Sauerbrunn, she said. Every member of the 23-player world Cup roster must wear a number in that range. Nonetheless, the gesture from Girma, who lived up to the No. 4 jersey while at the World Cup, left Sauebrunn touched.
“It was just like a really sweet gesture and I was like, of course,” she said. “We rent the jersey number. It’s not mine. It’s not Nay’s. This is how it’s supposed to be. You just have it for as long as you can and then it goes to the next person and that’s the cycle of life.”
Even still, Girma wants to make one thing clear: The number is Sauerbrunn’s for now.
“Becky is No. 4,” she said, “to be clear.”
Of the 27 players called into the October training camp for the U.S. women’s national team, 17 are set to compete in the NWSL playoffs.
Every one of the six teams competing in the postseason will send players to the USWNT for its friendlies against Colombia on Oct. 26 and 29. The Portland Thorns lead the way, with five players heading to the national team — not counting captain Christine Sinclair, who will play for Canada as her career winds down.
The NWSL playoffs kick off at 10 p.m. ET Friday, as the OL Reign host Angel City FC in the first round. After the quarterfinal round, the postseason will take a one-week break to allow players to join their national teams for the October international window.
Among the playoff teams, Angel City FC features the least number of international players, per team announcements. Just three are set to join their national teams in October – and two (Alyssa Thompson and M.A. Vignola) will remain here in the United States.
2023 NWSL playoffs: USWNT players
(1) Portland Thorns
- Sam Coffey
- Crystal Dunn
- Olivia Moultrie
- Becky Sauerbrunn
- Sophia Smith
(2) San Diego Wave
- Alex Morgan
- Jaedyn Shaw
- Naomi Girma
(3) North Carolina Courage
- Casey Murphy, USWNT
- Emily Fox, USWNT
(4) OL Reign
- Alana Cook, USWNT
- Sofia Huerta, USWNT
- Emily Sonnett, USWNT
(5) Angel City FC
- Alyssa Thompson, USWNT
- M.A. Vignola, USWNT
(6) Gotham FC
- Lynn Williams, USWNT
- Midge Purce, USWNT
2023 NWSL playoffs: International players
(1) Portland Thorns
- Christine Sinclair, Canada
(2) San Diego Wave
- Kyra Carusa, Ireland
- Sofia Jakobsson, Sweden
- Kailen Sheridan, Canada
(3) North Carolina Courage
- Sydney Collins, Canada
- Mille Gejl, Denmark
- Rikke Marie Madsen, Denmark
- Denise O’Sullivan, Ireland
(4) OL Reign
- Angelina, Brazil
- Quinn, Canada
- Jordyn Huitema, Canada
- Jess Fishlock, Wales
(5) Angel City FC
- Claire Emslie, Scotland
(6) Gotham FC
- Sinead Farrelly, Ireland
- Esther González, Spain
- Ify Onumonu, Nigeria
Christine Sinclair is retiring from the Canada women’s national team.
With 190 goals in 327 games for Canada, the 40-year-old forward steps away as the all-time leading international scorer. She won an Olympic gold medal in 2021, and she played in her sixth World Cup tournament in 2023.
“Honestly, you can’t play forever,” Sinclair told Reuters. “And this seems like a good time to be done.”
Yet while she is hanging up her boots on the international stage, as she teased in an Instagram post Thursday night before officially announcing her retirement Friday, she plans to play another season for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.
The Thorns captain is leading her team into the 2023 playoffs. As the No. 2 seed, Portland has a bye into the semifinal round on Nov. 5, where the defending champions will face either the North Carolina Courage or Gotham FC.
Sinclair also will make a few more appearances for Canada as a send-off tour during an upcoming international window, from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.
“The way the schedule is lining up, it’ll be a nice way to end it,” Sinclair said.
Alex Morgan is the most marketable athlete in women’s sports in 2023.
The U.S. women’s national team star also stands as the third-most marketable athlete in the world behind Lionel Messi and LeBron James, according to SportsPro’s new ranking, which assesses athletes’ personal brand and reach.
Fellow USWNT forward Megan Rapinoe (No. 5) joins Morgan in the top five. Skier Mikaela Shiffrin (No. 6) and gymnast Simone Biles (No. 8) also rank in the top 10. From the world of tennis, newly-minted US Open champion Coco Gauff sits at No. 12 and Naomi Osaka at No. 14.
LSU star Angel Reese (No. 19) is the lone women’s basketball player on the list. She catapulted to stardom after leading the Tigers to their first national title in program history in 2023.
In total, 23 women are included among SportsPro’s top 50 most marketable athletes for 2023. In the World Cup year, Morgan and Rapinoe both jumped up the list, with the former up from eighth place and the latter up from 27th.
Serena Williams, who has since retired, dropped off the list, while Osaka and Australian soccer star Sam Kerr dropped out of the top 10.
This year’s list “underlines the growing commercial influence and value of women’s sport,” according to SportsPro. For the first time, qualitative research was included with quantitative marketability measurements to help determine the final rankings.
“This year’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes list follows the most comprehensive assessment of athlete marketability we’ve ever undertaken in the 14-year history of SportsPro’s annual ranking,” said Michael Long, editorial director at SportsPro.
Hours after Nike quietly put Mary Earps’ England goalkeeper kit on sale, the jersey had sold out.
The release came as a surprise to Earps, who said in an Instagram story Monday that she was unaware the jerseys would be going on sale. Still, the 30-year-old goalkeeper thanked everyone for their “incredible support,” noting the jerseys already had sold out.
While Nike would not comment on the number of jerseys sold Monday, the shirts did not appear for sale on its website or through the England Football Association as of Monday night, Reuters reported. In a statement to Reuters, Nike said that “more will be for sale later this season.”
Earps starred for England at the 2023 World Cup, winning the Golden Glove award for the tournament’s top goalkeeper. Last month, she was voted the England Women’s Player of the Year.
Yet her jersey was not available for purchase during the World Cup, which prompted backlash against Nike from fans and from Earps. The Lionesses made their first appearance in a World Cup final this summer, losing to Spain. During their tournament run, more than 170,000 people signed a petition calling on Nike to sell Earps’ and other goalkeepers’ jerseys.
On Aug. 24, Nike announced that it would make women’s goalkeeper kits for the USWNT, England, France and the Netherlands available for sale. Nike did not comment on why Earps’ jersey was released in October, per Reuters.
The Nigerian football federation is holding its women’s national team back, according to one of its stars.
Ifeoma Onumonu spoke on the latest episode of Just Women’s Sports‘ “Snacks” podcast about the potential of the Super Falcons — and how a lack of organization at the top is standing in their way.
Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, head coach Randy Waldrum criticized the federation, citing a failure to pay the players. It’s unclear whether or not Waldrum will continue as coach, with his contract set to expire this year.
“It’s no secret that there’s a lot of stuff swirling around with our coaching staff, we’re not really in the know with what’s going on there,” Onumonu said. “Our federation, we’ve had a lot of battles with them. I just want more organization for our federation, saying like, ‘Hey, if you put a little more into this team — like with what you’ve given them, look what they were able to accomplish.’
“If we get a little bit more organized, if we make sure that sleeping arrangements are good, training arrangements, fields are good at camp, just making sure you’re informing the players at a reasonable time about coming into camp.”
Despite entering the World Cup in the midst of a dispute over pay and resources, the team reached the Round of 16, where the Super Falcons were knocked out by eventual runners-up England in penalties.
Nigeria is one of a few countries to have made it to every single Women’s World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1991. The Super Falcons have made nine World Cup appearances, with their best-ever finish a quarterfinals appearance in 1999.
But Onumonu believes the team has what it takes to be a top-10 team.
“If all of those are solved, I feel like we can be just even better and push for even more,” she said. “But I think those little things are kind of hindering us from advancing into the top 10 teams in the world because I do think we are capable with the makeup of the team. … So I hope in the future, we can kind of get that act together and actually compete so that when we say, ‘Oh, we’re going to win this thing,’ they believe us.”
Nigerian players have enlisted the help of FIFPRO, the international players’ union, to help negotiate their bonuses for national team camps. But a “very misogynistic” culture in Nigeria holds players back from fully speaking out.
“There’s a way I would do it, but it’s not necessarily the appropriate way to do it in Nigeria,” said Onumonu, who was born in the United States and plays for the NWSL’s Gotham FC.
“And that’s the thing where I really lack the understanding is, what is the best way to do it in Nigeria? Because in reality, the same sort of systems that exist in the U.S. that we would probably go through to accomplish this, whether it be creating a CBA or a union, I don’t think that’s the same thing you can do in Nigeria, unfortunately.
“As a woman, it’s very hard to get anything for yourself because of just the way we’re treated and we’re seen in Nigerian societies.”
Lynn Williams thinks the U.S. women’s national team was not on the same page at the 2023 World Cup.
Speaking on ESPN’s “Fútbol Americas,” the 30-year-old forward noted that while there is not one specific reason for the historically disappointing Round of 16 exit, she does feel like the team failed to gel until too late.
“I think that you can’t put your finger on exactly what happened. There’s a million different perspectives, there’s a million different little, tiny things,” she said. “I think that we just couldn’t all for some reason get on the same page until the Sweden game, it seemed like.”
Williams also thinks that the team was “so tight” due to the immense pressure of entering the tournament as back-to-back World Cup champions and going for a historic three-peat. And though there are some issues that the team “needs to keep internally,” she is proud of how the team stuck together.
“Feeling like there was so much pressure on our shoulders, especially the younger players as well and the people like myself who this was their first World Cup,” she said. “I don’t think we were playing our free selves. And that’s for whatever reason.
“It just didn’t translate until the Sweden game. I think that was a good game to build off of but, unfortunately, in tournaments you can’t wait that long to get going.”
This year has been a long one for members of the Canadian women’s national team, with the dispute between players and their national federation extending up to (and beyond) the 2023 World Cup.
Speaking on Just Women’s Sports‘ “Snacks” podcast, Janine Beckie – who missed the World Cup with a torn ACL – called the fights “soul crushing.” In February, the team threatened to boycott the SheBelieves Cup over budget cuts, but players were told they didn’t have the legal standing to do so.
“Come January 2023, they’re like, ‘Oh, we’re in this really bad position financially, we’re going to cut budgets to make sure that we can continue to operate over the next couple of years,’” Beckie said. “And it was just like so soul-crushing as a player, and especially as someone who’s been so involved in the conversation, to have had all the conversations that we had and felt like we were making progress, and then your budget is slashed in a World Cup year off the back of being Olympic champions. It was just like, ‘What is going on?’”
It took nearly six months for the team to reach an interim agreement with Canada Soccer over pay, despite captain Christine Sinclair saying that players needed a deal in place before playing in the World Cup. Instead, that deal came days after the World Cup began. And it still was a disappointing deal for players, as it remains incomplete.
On “Snacks,” Beckie reiterated that players are still unhappy with the deal as it stands.
“We don’t have any kind of formal CBA that we are happy with at this point,” she said. “That’s still all to be negotiated. Our full intention is to have a substantial CBA that we are happy with moving forward over the next couple of years, instead of continuing to come back to the table and just negotiate these short-term deals. There’s a lot of it that we can’t control as players, and I think that’s been one of the hardest things.”
As the injury crisis in women’s soccer continues, players want to see changes.
On the latest episode of Just Women’s Sports‘ “Snacks” podcast, Canada star Janine Beckie – who missed the 2023 World Cup with an ACL tear – told USWNT players and co-hosts Lynn Williams and Sam Mewis that teams must set a new standard in order to help prevent injuries.
During the latest international break, three players tore their ACLs, including Scotland’s Caroline Weir. Beckie tore her ACL in March while playing in a preseason match for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.
After her own injury, she called out the packed schedule for women’s players, telling Reuters that as games for women increase, so must the resources.
“You’ve changed the schedule to mimic the men yet you’re not giving the female players the same level of resources,” she said. “Premier League players are playing 40-, 50-plus games a season and are able to maintain fitness levels because they’re treated like gold, which they should be. If you’re going ask an elite athlete to play 50 games a season, you’ve got provide them the top-of-the-line care.”
She expanded upon that thought on “Snacks.”
“My point in saying that was you’re asking these players to play under a really, really heavy load, and then you’re not counterbalancing that with extra recovery sessions, equipment, more medical personnel,” she said. “I think like, at [Manchester] City for the men’s team, they have some stupid ratio of three players to one physio, or something like that. Like, they just have a wild amount of medical staff. … If that’s how they’re operating, that’s how it should be. And you see these Premier League teams that have their big-time players available all the time, so they’re doing the right things off the field.”
Unfortunately, Beckie says, the reality is that men’s soccer players likely don’t have to worry about their facilities as much as women’s soccer players. Additionally, no women’s club is likely to have every resource.
“We have to continue to push that standard in our own environments,” she continued. “Because if we don’t change the resource availability for our players, we’re just going to continue to see these mayhem moments happening more and more frequently.
Williams agreed, noting that there are club teams where people are “wearing three different hats.”
“So then things slip through the cracks. And so if we can change that, start there and just have those resources, I think that’s a good first step,” she said. “It is amazing to see, I think Portland is up there with doing incredible things. You have your whole setup, it seems like you go into training and you have everything right there. We need more teams to continue to push the top so it forces the bottom to come up.”