Revealed: The two Spain players that will continue strike - 'We have to see the changes'

The two players who will not continue with the Spain squad have been revealed to be Barcelona’s Patri Guijarro and Maria ‘Mapi’ Leon. After extensive negotiations with the RFEF and Ministry for Sport, 21 of the 23-strong squad have agreed to return to action against Sweden on Friday. Leon and Guijarro say they do not feel they have the mental strength to carry on.

In the early hours of this morning, Head of the High Council for Sport (CSD) Victor Francos emerged from the team hotel, saying an agreement had been reached for 21 of the players to return to action, on the proviso of three key steps; the creation of a joint committee to oversee the changes, restructuring of women’s football in the RFEF and improvements in gender equality under sports law.

Leon and Guijarro decided to leave the camp, although they did not rule out a return to Spain duty in the future. Cadena SER caught their statements on their departure, with Leon speaking first.

“It is a reality that the situation for Patri and I is different from that of the rest of the colleagues. This was not the form nor the manner in which to return. We are not in a position to say, ‘no, now we are coming back’. This is a process. We are happy because changes are taking place, little by little changes are being made and in this we are fully supporting our colleagues as we have done during this time from afar.”