The players have said no to the Spanish team and now the problem lies with coach Montse Tomé, who must configure the list for the next two Nations League matches (September 22 against Sweden and September 26 against Switzerland). The coach knows that she cannot count on the 23 world champions, just as many others have been added to the negative. It happens, in any case, that Tomé can make the list that she thinks is best — in fact, that is what she was going to do when she did not have a response from the soccer players until this morning — which would trigger a sinuous and Dantesque scenario. She also, however, could choose to call up the under-23 players because they did not subscribe to the statement after the World Cup in which 80 footballers resigned from the national team.
But if Tomé chooses to configure the list he has in his head, calls the best at this moment and they decide to ignore the call, the situation would get even more tangled. The Sports Law defines it as a very serious infraction – it is “the unjustified lack of attendance at the calls of the national sports teams, as well as the failure to make available to the national teams the athletes who have been designated for be part of them”—as stated in article 104. And the sanctions would be exemplary, from economic to sporting, as explained in article 108. The fine would range from 3,000 to 30,000 euros and could lead to the suspension of the license for between two to 15 years. These are the three possible sanctions that would affect the players if they do not respond to Tomé’s call:
a) Fine, not less than 3,000.01 nor more than 30,000 euros.
e) Prohibition of access to stadiums or places where tests or competitions are held for a period of no more than five years.
i) Suspension of federal license or equivalent temporary qualification for a period between two and fifteen years.
It remains to be seen what happens now with the coach’s list and how the federation now manages this mess. Likewise, if the team does not attend the match, Article 26 of the UEFA Nations League states that if a federation refuses to play, the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will declare the match lost for the federation in question. In addition, it could impose any additional disciplinary measures it considers appropriate on the association concerned, including disqualification from the competition, while losing all rights to receive payments from UEFA.
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