Women’s Super Cup in Arabia? bad idea

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) not only insists on maintaining its love affair with Saudi Arabia, a country that has hosted the Spanish Men’s Super Cup since 2019. It also intends to strengthen ties with the Persian Gulf country. Although the president of the RFEF, Rafael Louzán, could be disqualified next month by the CSD for a crime of prevarication, he has been working these days to extend the agreement with the Saudi regime until 2034. In addition, an ambitious objective: to include the Women’s Super Cup in this scenario. A goal that, according to sources close to some soccer players consulted by this newspaper, is “a toast to the sun that is not very feasible because the players would oppose it.”

Especially because Saudi Arabia is a country in which women live under a system of male guardianship that controls and limits their freedom and autonomy. In addition, homosexuality is punishable by the death penalty. Even so, since the arrival of the Spanish Super Cup in 2019, the Saudi regime has allocated large economic resources to develop women’s football and clean up its image. “But many players are foreigners and others use false names so they don’t get punished. And they play with tights because they can’t show their legs,” Amnesty International insists.

The prevailing feeling is that, if it became official, the footballers would show their rejection

The discrimination to which women are subjected in Arabia was quickly perceived in Yida by the partners of the Mallorca footballers who reported touching, mocking and sexual harassment when they left the stadium after the semi-final against Real Madrid. However, the first time President Louzán spoke publicly to talk about what happened, he did so to thank the “love received.” His message has been successively repeated in the rest of his public interventions. “Why not organize a Spanish Women’s Super Cup in Saudi Arabia?” asked Louzán, who defended “going hand in hand” with the Arab country that will organize the 2034 World Cup because “their successes will be ours.”

It should be remembered that the RFEF has pocketed 40 million euros each year since 2019, when the former president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, announced the agreement that currently extends until 2029. According to the former president, who will have to face a trial this month February for the alleged crimes of sexual assault and coercion in the case regarding the non-consensual kiss of Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup final, the agreement with Arabia was signed “to contribute to the evolution of “Saudi society that seeks a door to the world.”

The news of Louzán’s RFEF wishes has not come as a surprise to Spanish women’s football. Sources very close to the soccer players point out that “this is not the first time this rumor has spread because Rubiales already hinted at it at the time.” If the proposal were to become official, the prevailing feeling is that the vast majority of footballers would show their rejection.

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It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done it. In fact, in October 2024, a group of 106 players from 24 different countries stood before FIFA and signed a letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, asking him to end his agreement with the Saudi oil company, Aramco, to sponsor the 2027 World Cup. The soccer players then described the sponsorship as “something that has no moral sense because the Saudi regime systematically oppresses women and the LGTBIQ+ community.” The matter has not yet been resolved.

At the moment, given the rumors of a possible Women’s Super Cup in Arabia, the footballers who compete in the Spanish competitions are waiting for official news. “But they have already demonstrated their values ​​by giving up playing World Cups to improve their conditions,” the same sources recall.

For his part, Louzán left Arabia “very happy with the empathy of the Saudi authorities. “We hope to finalize agreements very soon.”

The RFEF wants to extend the link until 2034

The RFEF intends to extend the celebration of the men’s Spanish Super Cup in Arabia until 2034. In addition, Rafael Louzán wants to expand the distribution of the income of the participating teams. With the current link, the RFEF receives 40 million annually to be distributed between the Federation itself and the participating clubs. In this edition, Barça as champions has earned nine million. Real Madrid, runners-up, another seven million. For their part, Athletic Club and Mallorca, who fell in the semifinals, have concluded their participation in this Spanish Super Cup with a prize of two million and 850,000 euros, respectively, which has sparked complaints from both teams about an unequal distribution of prizes. .