Former Spain head coach, Jorge Vilda, said being sacked weeks after winning the Women’s World Cup was “unfair”.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) dismissed Vilda on Tuesday, with Montse Tome named his successor.
Vilda’s exit came amid the fallout after the behaviour of RFEF president Luis Rubiales at the World Cup final.
“In sporting terms, I am going to accept all the criticisms, but on a personal level I think it has been unfair,” Vilda, 42, told Cadena SER.
“It has been a special year. Nothing has ever been said directly but indirectly things have been said that do not suit me. Things have been said that are not true.”
Spain beat England in the World Cup final on August 20, but the win was overshadowed by Rubiales kissing forward Jenni Hermoso, which she has said was not consensual.
Most of Vilda’s coaching staff resigned and 81 players refused to play for Spain in the aftermath.
Rubiales has refused to resign but has been provisionally suspended by Fifa, football’s world governing body, with Pedro Rocha appointed interim president.
In a statement, the RFEF did not give a specific reason for Vilda’s dismissal, saying he had been “a promoter of the values of respect and sportsmanship in football”.
However, the RFEF has been exploring whether it could sack Vilda – considered a close ally of Rubiales – since last week.
The RFEF called the move “one of the first renewal measures” announced by Rocha.
Vilda, who had been in charge of the national team since 2015, survived a player revolt in September 2022, when the RFEF said 15 players had submitted identical emails saying they would not play for Vilda unless “significant” concerns over their “emotional state” and “health” were addressed.
Las 15’ – as the players became known – denied claims they had asked for Vilda, who has always had the support of Rubiales, to be sacked, but Spain’s World Cup campaign had a backdrop of tension amid reports of concerns over training methods and inadequate game preparation.
Of those 15, just three ended their exile and were in the squad as Spain beat England in the World Cup final in Sydney last month.
Vilda, who won 75 of his 108 matches in charge of Spain and has taken the side to second in the Fifa world rankings, added: “I am as well as can be after being fired after being world champion 10 days ago. I have been fired, I think, unjustly.
“It was a brief meeting with Pedro Rocha and the vice president of Equality. I have a clear conscience. I have given 100 percent and I don’t understand it, I didn’t see my termination as deserved.”
