Football Ferns coach Jitka Klimkova has added her disdain to that of the wider football community, as the 'Spanish kiss' controversy continues to overshadow the success of the NZ-hosted Women's World Cup.
Three weeks after Spain defeated England for the women's world crown, their triumph has taken a backseat to the creepy behaviour of Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales, who planted an unwanted kiss on the lips of star forward Jenni Hermoso during medal presentations.
Spain's High Court has opened a preliminary investigation into the incident and world body FIFA has suspended Rubiales, who is refusing to step down, after apologising for his actions.
Klimkova isn't impressed by his defiance, which has cheated his players of their moment of glory.
"The Spanish boss should be already gone," she told Newshub. "We should be celebrating women's football in Spain, we should not be talking about the moment that happened on the stage.
"It should be not even part of our discussions. I am very disappointed at what happened and it should not be happening."
Triumph in the Sydney final capped a remarkable year for the Spanish women's programme, which has also taken out the world U20 and U17 crowns this year.
"It's amazing," said Klimkova. "Nobody has done it before, and the way they've done it, the way the Spanish team play is absolutely incredible.
"It's so fun to watch and we should be celebrating them."
If there is a silver lining to the ongoing storm, it's that Rubiales' behaviour has been universally condemned as unacceptable.
"It shows how much it matters now," said Klimkova. "It means we want to make it right.
"We don't want to let it just happen and we want to protect our women for the future, so we have to have some kind of conclusion in this.
"They just won and that's what we should be talking about. Studying the way Spain play should be our focus, not what just happened.
"It should be done much quicker and we should be moving on."
The Football Ferns are already moving on from their World Cup pool exit, with a confirmed fixture against Chile on September 23 at Santiago.
