Members of Spain’s women’s national soccer team who boycotted the national team following the “forced kiss” scandal involving the former head of the country’s soccer federation have joined the squad. The BBC reported on Tuesday (Aug. 20) that some of the Spanish national team players attended the national team’s call-up .According to the BBC, six players based in Madrid, Spain, arrived at the team’s hotel and will join the rest of the team in Valencia to train for the A-match. The first six players are five from Real Madrid and one from Atletico Madrid, including Olga Carmona and goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, who scored back-to-back goals in the semifinals and final of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand to help Spain win the tournament. When asked by local reporters if she was “happy” to be on the team, Rodriguez said, “No. Barcelona players also gathered at the airport to fly to Valencia .”We have been forced to call up and we need to have a long and deep discussion about whether we are really going to a safe place,” Barcelona’s Mafi Leon said. “If (the federation) wants to impose sanctions on us, the players have no choice but to answer the call,” he added. The BBC quoted Spanish journalist Guillem Balague as saying that the players joined the team because they could face penalties, including a ban from the national team and fines, if they did not comply. However, it remains to be seen if the players will actually play in the A-match .The Spanish women’s national soccer team will face Sweden and Switzerland in the group stage of the 2023-2024 UEFA Women’s Nations League on Sept. 22 and 26, respectively. The Spanish women’s national soccer team released a joint statement shortly after the new female head coach, Montserrat Tome, announced the call-ups, saying they would continue to boycott the national team. Following Spain’s victory at the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, former Fifa president Luis Rubiales resigned after a major controversy erupted when he forcibly kissed player Henipher Hermoso during the winning ceremony. A total of 81 Spanish women’s professional soccer players, including those who represented the country at the time, announced that they would refuse to play for the national team .On March 15, 39 players, including 21 of the 23 World Cup winners, issued a joint statement to continue their boycott, demanding a reorganization of the national team staff and certain departments within the federation .Fifteen of the 21 members of the World Cup-winning squad who issued the statement were included in the list Tome announced later in the day, but Hermoso’s name was not among them. “I left him off the list to protect him,” Tome explained. “Protected from what and from whom?” asked Hermoso, “The federation is carrying out a divisive campaign to intimidate players with legal and 스포츠토토링크 economic sanctions. Nothing has changed,” he criticized.