Morocco’s soccer federation announced Thursday that it has hired Jorge Vilda, who led Spain to this year’s World Cup title amid controversy, as its new women’s coach.
Spain fired Vilda two weeks after it defeated England to win the country’s first women’s World Cup title in August. At the time, the country’s soccer federation (RFEF) was dealing with the fallout from the team’s postmatch celebration, when federation president Luis Rubiales kissed player Jenni Hermoso without her consent following Spain’s 1-0 victory.
Though Vilda had little to do with that controversy — he initially appeared supportive of Rubiales but later changed course — and had been praised by Spain’s soccer federation as “key to the remarkable growth of women’s football” in that country, his methods in the run-up to the tournament had long been questioned.