Spain accidentally honors influencer instead of captain of women's football team

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain accidentally honored an Argentine influencer with the Royal Order of Sports Merit after confusing her name with that of Ivana Andres Sanz, the captain of Spain's World Cup-winning football team.

The top award for athletes in Spain was originally awarded to Ivana Icardi Rivero, who is an influencer, a celebrity known for reality TV appearances and the sister of the football player Mauro Icardi.

"This really happened! How could they possibly get something like this wrong?" Ivana Icardi posted to Instagram.

On Wednesday, Spain’s Official Gazette issued a correction, honoring the correct Ivana.

Spain’s National Sports Council issued an apology for the “human error” that it said was deeply regretted.

To make matters worse, when the correction in the Official Gazette came out, it emerged that Spanish authorities had spelled the names of four players incorrectly. Those were also corrected.

This is not the first questionable show of respect for the players who took home Spain’s first women’s World Cup.

Notoriously, during celebrations after the match, the now-suspended head of Spain’s football federation Luis Rubiales kissed player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips and grabbed his crotch in a victory gesture.

Rubiales refused to apologize for the kiss or to step down, instead going on a tirade against feminism and shouting about how men won the World Cup too. When the female players announced they would not play under the current leadership, Spain’s football federation threatened legal action against them.

Soon after, Rubiales was temporarily suspended by FIFA. Spain’s football federation also backtracked. After giving Rubiales a standing ovation, the coach of the women’s team Jorge Vilda was also fired from his post.

Amid the scandal, Rubiales’ mother even locked herself in a church for a short-lived hunger strike, accusing Hermoso of lying about what happened.

On Wednesday, Spanish media reported that Hermoso wants to press criminal charges against Rubiales.