Barcelona has sacked Eric Abidal as sporting director, announced the club on a Tuesday, a day after the dismissal of coach Quique Setien.
“FC Barcelona and Eric Abidal have reached an agreement for the termination of the contract between them,” the club said on their website.
Like Setién, Abidal paid the penalty after Barca ended a season of internal clashes by ceding the la liga name to Real Madrid and then suffering a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
It is Barcelona’s first trophy-free season since 2007.
Setien’s departure announced on Monday after an emergency council assembly at Camp Nou, which lasted just six hours.
Abidal, a former foreign left-back from France who won 67 international matches, played for Barcelona from 2007 to 2013, when he suffered physical disorders and underwent a liver transplant.
Appointed sporting director in June 2018
He arrived at the chimney for his handling of the dismissal of coach Ernesto Valverde in January.
Abidal and other officers had visited Al-Sadd’s Qatari coach, Xavi, to offer him the task while Valverde was still in charge, but former Barca legend refused.
Abidal blamed the players for Valverde’s dismissal in an interview, prompting an angry reaction from the club’s understated superstar Lionel Messi.
Messi posted a message on Instagram urging Abidal to “make his decisions” and “name names.”
Setien has overseen 16 wins, 4 draws and losses in 25 games in charge.
After announcing Setien’s departure on Monday, the club promised “profound changes.”
“This is the first resolution to be taken regarding the in-depth restructuring of the first azulgrana team, which will be made in accordance with the existing technical control and the new coach, which will be unveiled in the coming days,” the Catalan club said on Monday afternoon.
Dutch coach Ronald Koeman is Setien’s successor.
Forefront