Spain were dealt a massive blow when Alexia Putellas suffered an ACL injury on the eve of Euro 2022, but with 15 others refusing to play for the national team in the months since due to the environment, La Roja could be facing a World Cup without many of their best players.

Spain crashed out of the Euros at the quarter final stage after a 2-1 extra-time defeat to eventual champions England, with Putellas not on the pitch. She has since completed her recovery, but her place in Spain’s World Cup squad this summer is far from clear.

Due to her injury, the 29-year-old was not among the group of players who each sent a collectively written email to the Spanish football federation (RFEF) declaring themselves unavailable for international selection until significant positive changes were made to the national team setup under unpopular coach Jorge Vilda. But, despite not being directly part of it, she did support the protest.

Fellow veteran internationals Jenni Hermoso and Irene Paredes took a similar stance, but both have since been recalled and played for Spain.

With a full squad of their best players available, Spain could be genuine World Cup contenders. Otherwise, they could understandably struggle to compete with the very best teams.

Despite winning seven of their nine matches without the 15 signatories, Spain have looked far from the prominent and formidable side that narrowly missed out on the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup last year. They struggled to break down their most recent opponent China, who exploited far too many lapses in defensive judgement and concentration, highlighting the impact of the absentees.

Georgia Stanway’s stunning extra-time goal was what sealed Spain’s Euro 2022 fate. Comparing the sides from that game to the most recent sqaud, the depth, ferocity and experience is glaringly obvious, making it a tough feat to imagine this young squad coping well at the summer tournament.

Spain’s most recent squad did not feature any members of the Rebel 15, adding a great deal of speculation around the pending announcement of the 23-player World Cup squad; many fans want to know if their favourite Spanish players will be making the trip down under.

But given their recent omission, no indication of RFEF meeting their demands, the 15 standing their ground and Vilda adamant that there is no place for them as it stands, it seems that is unlikely that the players will go to the World Cup. The stalemate has no end in the foreseeable future.

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Putellas is not on the list and it remains to be seen what steps she will decide to take.

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15 members of the Spain squad sent identical emails to RFEF in September of 2022.

“I inform you that the events that have occurred and the situation that has arisen in the Spanish national team, a situation of which you [the federation] are aware, are having an important effect on my emotional state and by extension my health,“ the email read.

“As I result, I do not currently consider myself to be in a condition to be chosen for the national team, and I ask not to be called up until the situation is resolved.”

pic.twitter.com/wsFwYv0aRl

— Ona Batlle (@OnaBatlle) September 24, 2022

This came after two previous attempts to change the situation within RFEF. Weeks prior, players had pushed for president of the federation, Luis Rubiales, to make changes in women’s football that included Vilda, eventually opting to walk out until the situation drastically improves.

Members of the Spanish team no longer felt that RFEF was putting the players first, that Vilda was incapable of doing the job expected of him and that the relatoinship had broken down to the point that the players no longer felt they could continue to play for their country.

The players had been unhappy with the management of injuries, the atmosphere in the dressing room, team selection and training sessions, Reuters reported, citing sources close to the situation.

Until a change is made, noting themselves that it had ‚come to this extreme‘ as they saw no other way to make their feelings known, they would not play for their national team.

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Neither Vilda not the RFEF have many any comments on the situation in recent months.

The fractures within the team date back to Euro 2022, where Vilda said, „The games started, and something changed“, speaking in a press conference after noting the good atmosphere prior to this.

When speaking, Vilda said there was no place in his team for the 15 players that made themselves unavailable, and that he is not at fault nor would be stepping down as coach.

„At no point did I consider resigning,“ he said. „Because it is unjust because of everything we have done in the past, everything we have done now and everything that is to come. I have been working for this for years; we were trying to build a national team we could be proud of.“

RFEF appears to be standing by the coach, saying in a statement that they will not ‚allow the players to question the continuity of the national coach and his coaching staff, since making those decisions does not fall within their powers.‘ RFEF also said that the players would not be allowed to return to the national team unless they ‚accept their mistake and ask for forgiveness.‘

It was later revealed that RFEF was responsible for making the private emails public, along with the names of the 15 players who sent them.

In her statement, Putellas disagreed with RFEF’s claims that the players were calling for changes in the national team coaching staff, saying they ’never asked for the dismissal of a coach as has been reported‘.

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