Walter Finch
THE Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) is in trouble again after it shrugged off serious harassment complaints from footballers’ wives during the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia
The partners of footballers from RCD Mallorca revealed they were harassed and felt up by local fans during their semi-final match with Real Madrid at the King Abdullah stadium Jeddah on January 9.
“What was supposed to be one of the happiest days of our lives ended up being overshadowed by anguish and fear,” Cristina Palavra, the partner of footballer Dani Rodríguez, wrote on Instagram.
“When we left the match, instead of feeling safe, we suffered moments of true panic.
“Not only did crowds harass us, surrounding us trying to take selfies while I was carrying my small children in my arms, but they also slapped some of the other Spanish fans.
“We were extremely scared, as if we had been thrown to the wolves.”
Palavra went on to slam the RFEF for not ‘taking the necessary measures to protect us or guarantee the safety of the fans who, like us, had travelled far from home to enjoy a unique moment.’
Officially, the RFEF remained silent on the issue and did not not issue a statement on what happened. Nor did new President Rafael Louzan publicly condemn the events.
However, federation sources responded by telling El Diario that the women had merely experienced ‘anxiety’ rather than harassment.
The source stressed that it is necessary to ‘clearly differentiate’ between ‘harassment, which is always linked to sexuality’, and feeling ‘overwhelmed’, which is ‘what the affected women felt’ when they were in the middle of the ‘uproar’.
“What they have said is a bit mixed up”, the source added.
The RFEF later claimed the incident was an isolated event, citing the ‘high level of security’ provided by Saudi authorities, who deployed over 1,500 police officers during the semi-finals and nearly 2,000 for the final.
“We obviously regret that someone may have felt that way, but we do not have much more information apart from what those affected themselves say,” the RFEF said.
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It also said the incident was an ‘absolutely one-off event.’
“There were many women and children, and sometimes situations arise in football that may not be very pleasant,” the organisation said.
The controversy highlights the Federation’s controversial decision to move the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, a deal reportedly worth €40 million annually.
Palavra added: “It’s hard to understand how a tournament of such importance can be played so far from home, and even harder to see how money weighs more than the safety of fans.”
