Former Spain Women’s head coach Jorge Vilda has been named the new head coach of the Morocco Women’s national team.
He succeeds Reynald Pedros and is expected to be officially unveiled on Sunday.
Vilda has been out of work since he was sacked 16 days after Spain won the World Cup.
His departure followed the fallout after Spanish football association (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales kissed Spain forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the medal ceremony at Stadium Australia after Spain’s victory over England. Hermoso says the kiss was not consensual, which Rubiales denies.
Vilda is under investigation in an alleged sexual assault and coercion case against Rubiales following the Hermoso kiss.
Vilda, along with the director of the men’s national team, Albert Luque, and RFEF director of marketing, Ruben Rivera, were previously called as witnesses in the case. But Francisco de Jorge, judge of the National Court, changed their statuses to under investigation in September.
Morocco qualified for the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2023 and reached the last 16, where they were beaten by France.
They finished as runners up to South Africa at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations and are hosting the tournament in 2024.
Vilda succeeds Reynald Pedros
Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time on August 20 after Olga Carmona’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 victory over England.
Rubiales has been a staunch supporter of Vilda, backing him after 15 players wrote to the RFEF in September last year asking not to be called up until changes were made to the national set-up.
Vilda had given Rubiales a standing ovation at the RFEF assembly on August 25 after the president reiterated he would not resign from his post following the Hermoso kiss and pledged to give Vilda a new four-year contract.
Two days later, the head coach criticised the “improper behaviour” of Rubiales but did not step down as manager, despite 81 Spain players refusing to play until the leadership of the RFEF changed and eleven members of the coaching staff resigning.
The 42-year-old had been in charge of Spain since 2015. He had been in the Spain Women’s coaching set-up since 2009 and previously held coaching roles the under-17 and under-19 sides, winning two European Under 17 Championship titles and finishing as runners up in the Under 17 Women’s World Cup in 2014.
(Photo: Hagen Hopkins –FIFA via Getty Images)
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