Spanish giants Barcelona have rescinded the contract of new reserve team player Sergi Guardiola after the club discovered offensive tweets against Barcelona and Catalonia on his twitter feed. The tweets were posted back in 2013, but has come back to haunt the player at the worst possible time for the youngster.
The 24-year-old was one of three players signed for the Barca B alongside midfielder Josep Miquel Fernandez from UE Cornella and left-back Moises Delgado from Sevilla Atletico, but his dreams of playing for the Catalans were shattered because of Guardiola’s alleged actions over two years ago.
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The official club statement read, “FC Barcelona have decided to rescind the contract signed by the player Sergi Guardiola this afternoon, who was due to join Barça B. It emerged that he has published offensive tweets about both Barcelona and Catalonia.”
Guardiola denies charges against him
The tweets that made the headlines were discovered by Barcelona fans who were trying to find out more about their new signing, but it resulted in the club terminating the youngster from their ranks. Guardiola directed abusive messages at Barca and Catalonia while showering praise on rivals Real Madrid, and committed an apparent cardinal sin in the process.
“HALA MADRID puta [f**k] Cataluna,” he wrote in one tweet in 2013.
Speaking to Onda Cero, Guardiola said he understands the Catalan club’s decision, but claimed he did not publish the tweets.
“I apologise to Barca and to Catalonia,” he began. “It is a misunderstanding. I didn’t write [the tweets], it was in 2013 and I didn’t even know they existed. It was put on my profile, but it wasn’t me. I ask for forgiveness a thousand times - I have learnt a difficult lesson.”
“I’m from Mallorca, I’m not anti-Catalan or anti-anything. My dream was to play for Barca, now it’s broken.”
Not the first time Twitter has backfired on players
Spanish footballers have landed in hot water for tweeting and making public comments about clubs before. Earlier this year, Deportivo La Coruna decided against signing youth player Julio Rey after discovering an insulting tweet he made about the club in 2012. Deportivo said that a player should only wear their iconic blue and white shirt if they understand the notion of sportsmanship and respect.
Current Los Blancos star Isco once said he was an ‘Antimadridista’, that he disliked Real Madrid and found the club and their fans to be arrogant. Four years later, he donned the iconic White kit himself that irked a lot of the supporters at the club.
It should be a lesson for young footballers around the world: Everything you post on social media can come back to haunt you.
