“O.itemList.length” “- this.config.text.ariaShown
“This.config.text.ariaFermé”
Barcelona has dismissed Eric Abidal as sporting director, announced the club on Tuesday, a day after firing coach Quique Setien.
“FC Barcelona and Eric Abidal have reached an agreement for the termination of their contract,” 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 meeting of the meeting at Camp Nou, which lasted just six hours.
Abidal, a former French left-back who won international matches, played for Barcelona from 2007 to 2013 and helped the club win 4 La Liga and Champions League titles in 2009 and 2011.
The timing of these European titles has made it an icon. He was diagnosed with a liver tumor in March and underwent surgery, but returned at the end of the season to start the final at Wembley against Manchester United, which Barcelona won 3–1. Captain Carles Puyol let Abidal lift the trophy first.
She underwent a liver transplant in 2012, the organ source was later investigated through Spanish prosecutors.
He returned to Barcelona as the club’s ambassador in June 2017 and was appointed sporting director in June 2018.
He has been criticized for his handling of the dismissal of coach Ernesto Valverde in January.
Abidal and other officials 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.”
Abidal oversaw one to bring young players to Camp Nou, adding to the Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, Brazilians Malcom and Arthur and French central defender Clement Lenglet.
World Cup champions Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele also joined Barca Abidal’s tenure of more than 120 million euros each.
“Abidal is very intelligent and adapts to situations,” Lenglet told the AFP abidal’s dismissal.
“It’s in his role and I think he’s recruiting well,” he added.
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.
pve / pb / nr / iwd / pb