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Jorge Vilda was named as the new coach of the Morocco women’s national team on Thursday, weeks after being sacked as Spain boss following their World Cup triumph and the Luis Rubiales kiss scandal.

Spain won their maiden women’s World Cup title by beating England in the final in Sydney, despite missing several players who went on strike over Vilda’s training methods and tactics.

Vilda was seen as an ally of former Spanish football federation president Rubiales, who has been accused by public prosecutors of sexual assault and coercion for giving Jenni Hermoso an unsolicited kiss on the lips during the post-World Cup final awards ceremony.

But Morocco have named Vilda as successor to Frenchman Reynald Pedros, who took the team to the World Cup knockout stage on their tournament debut.

“The Royal Moroccan football federation has secured the services of Spanish coach Jorge Vilda Rodriguez to train the national women’s team,” the FRMF said in a statement.

Vilda was sacked by Spain after all of his World Cup-winning players said they would not play international football again until he left.

Earlier this week, Vilda denied pressuring midfielder Hermoso to downplay the kiss from Rubiales during questioning in court.

Vilda was also criticised for being excessively “controlling” by his former Spain players.

Spanish reports said he checked players’ shopping bags and made the squad leave their bedroom doors open during team training camps to make sure the players were still there in the evenings.