{"id":562485,"date":"2020-08-18T11:25:56","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T15:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=562485"},"modified":"2020-08-18T11:25:56","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T15:25:56","slug":"eric-abidal-leaves-role-as-barcelona-sporting-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/08\/18\/eric-abidal-leaves-role-as-barcelona-sporting-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Abidal Leaves His Role as Barcelona Sporting Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Abidal has left his post as Barcelona’s<\/a>\u00a0Sporting Director, the Spanish club have announced<\/a>. The decision comes shortly after the sacking<\/a> of Quique Setien<\/a> as manager.<\/p>\n

A former player for the Catalan giants, Abidal<\/a> had occupied the role since his return to the La Liga<\/a> club in June 2018.<\/p>\n

Eric Abidal Leaves Sporting Director Position<\/h2>\n

Barcelona Confirm the News via Club Statement<\/h3>\n

A short statement released by Barcelona on Tuesday confirmed the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cFC Barcelona and \u00c9ric Abidal have reached an agreement for the ending of the contract that united the two parties,” it detailed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club would publicly like to thank \u00c9ric Abidal for his professionalism, commitment, dedication, and the close and positive nature of his relationship with all aspects of the Blaugrana family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abidal becomes the second high profile figure to leave the club in the aftermath of their shocking defeat<\/a> by Bayern Munich<\/a> in the Champions League<\/a>. Manager Quique Setien was dismissed after only 25 games at the helm.<\/p>\n

Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman<\/a> is expected to become the new manager<\/a> over the coming days.<\/p>\n

Abidal\u2019s Distinguished Playing Career<\/h3>\n

The Frenchman enjoyed a far more successful stint playing for the club than he did as its Sporting Director. The former Lyon<\/a> left-back made 193 appearances for Barcelona, winning the Champions League on two occasions as well as four league titles with the club.<\/p>\n

As Sporting Director, Abidal clashed with Argentine great Lionel Messi<\/a> in February. The 40-year-old had stated that Barca\u2019s players were not working hard enough<\/a> for previous manager Ernesto Valverde<\/a>. This prompted a strong response from Messi, who retorted that club executives should focus on their own jobs rather than criticising the players.<\/p>\n

Barcelona announced then that Abidal would continue in his role, but after 6 months of further uncertainty and poor performances<\/a> from the club, this is no longer the case.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>