Spanish Football Federation allegedly lied about mistake which cost women’s international 100th cap

Concerns that many of the problems being complained about by those within the Spanish national team for the women’s section are not being dealt with have once again arisen, after a report that has left the Spanish Football Federation in a poor light.

Players protested and went on strike at various points, complaining that not only were they poorly prepared in terms of their coaching, but also that the infrastructure around them was not professional.

That appears to be the case with Irene Paredes’ missing cap. The Barcelona star was due to make her 100th appearance for Spain against Switzerland last week, but was not registered for the match due to what the RFEF alleged was a technical error from UEFA’s registrations system.

Relevo say they have consulted the documents from UEFA and the RFEF, and that there was no malfunction in the system, nor had any other team complained of this. The reality is that Isabel Navas, the team delegate, did not fill out the relevant form correctly.

They go on to detail that Navas was one of three RFEF directors formerly part of the foundation that was accused of misuse of public funds and purgery, after €219k destined to build a football school in Haiti, that was never built. The trial is still to take place, but Navas was relocated into the women’s football department after the incident. The other two directors were sacked and resigned.

This is further evidence, if it was necessary, of exactly the sort of thing that the players were complaining about, and shows that even if the players have been made promises and agreed to come back to action, there is a long way to go. Rather than a qualified and competent person being appointed as team delegate, a director under investigation is what they