The best scorer in the history of the France team believes that it is legitimate for the Spanish players to make demands, “they are asking for more recognition” during the World Cup.
“These are gestures that we don’t like to see, I was shocked,” confesses this Sunday in the “Club Info” on franceinfo, Eugénie Le Sommer, top scorer in the history of the French team and Olympique de Lyonnais, after Luis Rubiales’ forced kiss on Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso.
For her, it is legitimate that the Spanish players make demands, “they demand more recognition, more resources and actions in relation to what happened”, during the World Cup.
>> Luis Rubiales affair: almost all of the Spanish world champions refuse to return to the selection
franceinfo: how did you experience what happened in the Luis Rubiales affair with this forced kiss on the Spanish player Jennifer Hermoso?
Eugénie Le Sommer, best scorer in the history of the French team:
I saw it live because I was watching the match, it’s true that I was a little shocked. These are gestures that we don’t like to see and today I believe that there have been sanctions and the Spanish Federation is continuing to resolve these problems. These are gestures that we don’t want to see. Today there are stories coming out and people speaking out.
Almost all of the Spanish world football champions refuse to return to the national team until restructuring is carried out at the Spanish Football Federation. Do you understand their position?
It was legitimate for the players to claim something. If this happens it is also because women’s football is more publicized and there is more professionalism. We also want everything to follow behind and that is not always the case. The goal is to move forward and give yourself the means to succeed. They demand more recognition, more resources and actions in relation to what happened.
>> Luis Rubiales affair: the former president of the Spanish Football Federation faces justice
Regarding D1 Arkema, there will be playoffs at the end of the regular season. What do you think ?
It’s true that it’s new, with a new format. At the end of the entire championship the first four teams will have semi-finals and a final. And what’s more, at the end of these playoff matches, there will be a 3rd place which will qualify for the preliminary rounds of the Champions League. It’s going to be important to be part of these four teams. It is no longer the first team in the championship that will be champion. It’s going to be new for us, we’ll see at the end of the season what we think of it and we’ll see if the championship will have more appeal or not.
In the context in Lyon, there have also been a lot of changes with the arrival of John Textor for the men’s team, Michele Kang for the girls. What is your feeling ?
There have been a lot of changes between the end of last season and the start of this season. It was strange for us at first because Jean-Michel Aulas was the historic president of Lyon and it was also a shock for us. Now we must look forward. Michele Kang has great ambitions and I hope that we will be able to keep OL women on the roof of Europe and why not the world.