World Cup champion Spanish women's soccer team wins off, on the pitch

Spain won the FIFA Women's World Cup last month, but the untoward actions of the country's soccer federation president afterward spoiled what should have been a glorious celebration.

At the World Cup presentation ceremony, Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed forward Jenni Hermoso, causing a furor. Rubiales didn't do himself any favors with his screaming defense of his dreadful actions.

In protest of Rubiales and the Royal Spanish Football Federation's refusal to discipline him, nearly all the Spanish women's national team players refused to play until the organization made changes to protect players from abuse.

Earlier this week, after the drawn-out dismissals of Rubiales and manager Jorge Vilda, the federation finally took the women's demands seriously.

"We regret that this incident has negatively impacted what should have been a celebration of football," said interim federation president Pedro Rocha, adding that the organization had made "some obvious mistakes that I sincerely regret."

Rocha merged the men's and women's Spanish national teams into one entity, fired federation employees who had not supported the women's protest, and removed all threats of fines and sanctions from the protesting players. With these actions completed, 21 of the 23 boycotting players returned to the national team.

On Friday, the women played their first competitive game since the World Cup — against Sweden, no less, a top-10 side. Both teams entered the stadium together and posed with matching banners protesting the mistreatment of women in sport.