Getafe rename stadium following former striker Alfonso's sexist comments

The venue had been known as the Coliseum Alfonso Perez in honour of the Getafe-born player even though he had never played for the club's senior team.

The LaLiga side and Getafe town hall said in a statement that the stadium will be renamed 'Coliseum' following Perez's disparaging comments about women's football.

Perez told El Mundo newspaper over the weekend female soccer players should not be paid as much as men because they do not generate as much income and media coverage.

"Female football has evolved, but they have to keep their feet on the ground and know that in no sense can they be equated to a man footballer," he said.

Getafe town hall said the municipal venue, which is on loan to the club, must be "an example for transmitting positive sporting values such as equality, solidarity and respect".

The decision comes at a moment of reckoning in Spain after the country's former football federation president Luis Rubiales (46) kissed Jenni Hermoso (33) on the lips following Spain's World Cup victory. Hermoso denied Rubiales' claims that the kiss was consensual and later accused him of sexual assault.

Rubiales' actions overshadowed the team's World Cup triumph and snowballed into a "Me Too" moment that had been building for years as the players fought to combat sexism and achieve parity with their male peers for nearly a decade.