Spain women’s team given new NAME after crisis talks following Rubiales kiss storm

SPAIN’S women’s team have been given a new name in the wake of the Luis Rubiales kiss storm.

As part of the Spanish FA’s gender-neutral rebrand with the men’s side, they will no longer be called Spain Women.

GettySpain’s women’s team will be renamed ‘Spanish Football Team’[/caption]

Instead, the Women’s World Cup winners will be renamed the Spanish Football Team, the same name held by the men’s side.

The decision follows crunch talks between the RFEF and players from their World Cup triumph.

Talks were held in a bid to move on from the Rubiales scandal, dating back to the disgraced FA president’s kiss on Jenni Hermoso following last month’s World Cup final.

In a statement, the RFEF confirmed the name change, with interim president Pedro Rocha promising it will open the door to a changed attitude regarding the women’s team.

“Beyond a symbolic step,” he explained. “We want it to imply a change in concept, and the recognition that football is football, practiced by whoever practices it.”

The name change will also apply to the country’s futsal and beach soccer national teams.

Spanish players had written to the RFEF about the importance of structural changes to the national set-up ahead of the talks.

Of those that were involved, two players are said to have left the camp following the talks for mental health reasons.

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Spain return to action this week, facing Sweden in the Nations League on Friday in their first match since the scandal.

New manager Montserrat Tome has named her first squad as boss, having replaced World Cup-winning coach Jorge Vilda.

However, 39 players are understood to have turned down call-ups from the national team, including 15 World Cup winners.

Meanwhile, Pachuca forward Hermoso was left out completely.