Hermoso criticizes Spanish soccer federation and accuses it of threatening World Cup-winning players

By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer

MADRID (AP) — The player in the middle of the controversy that engulfed Spanish soccer after she was kissed on the lips by an official has accused the country’s soccer federation of trying to intimidate the World Cup-winning players by picking them for the national team even though they asked not to be called up. Jenni Hermoso says the federation’s decision to call up nearly half of the 39 players who said they would not play for the national team as a protest was “irrefutable proof” that “nothing has changed.” Hermoso says “the players are certain that this is yet another strategy of division and manipulation.”