July 11 – Paris St. Germain’s Brazilian sporting director Leonardo has caved in to the pressure of his 14-month ban and is to resign from the Qatari-owned club.
A week ago, the nine-month ban imposed on Leonardo for barging into a referee last season was extended by a further five months until June 30, 2014, ruling him out of next season entirely. The ruling meant he would have been unable to carry out any official duties until the start of the 2014-15 campaign.
As a result, after two years in the job, the 1994 World Cup winner has now decided to leave at the end of August with his future uncertain.
PSG, whose new first-team coach Laurent Blanc has only recently started work after Carlo Ancelotti left for Real Madrid, will now have to seek another high-profile replacement. The club said: “We regret his choice but respect his decision and wish him all the best for his future career choice. We thank him greatly for his important contributions towards the project of building a top European club in Paris.”
Leonardo had always denied barging into referee Alexandre Castro following a match against Valenciennes on May 5, claiming he was accidentally pushed into the official by someone else. PSG stood by him throughout, issuing a statement in which they said they “deplored the severity of the new, harsher penalty”.
The club announced last week they would explore future legal options once they had studied the wording of the French Football Federation’s ruling, but those plans look set to be shelved in the wake of Leonardo’s decision to step down. To make matters worse, the French champions go into the new season with a three-point deduction over the same issue, hardly the best start for the new regime under Blanc.
Leonardo, 43, took up his post in July 2011 following the Qatar Investment Authority’s takeover of the club. The timing of his departure – the end of the summer transfer window – suggests that he will still play a crucial role in securing new players for what promises to be a crucial season for PSG who have become one of Europe’s biggest spending and most ambitious clubs.
During Leonardo’s time at Parc des Princes, PSG signed stellar names such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marco Verratti, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Lucas Moura, Javier Pastore, Thiago Motta and David Beckham.
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