Eric Abidal (right) and Lionel Messi played together at Barcelona between 2007 and 2013, with the Frenchman returning to the club after retirement to become sporting director in June 2018Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal is to keep his job at the club despite being criticised by star forward Lionel Messi. Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi spoke out against Abidal after he had said players were not working hard under former coach Ernesto Valverde. Abidal, a former team-mate of Messi, made the comments in an interview with Spanish newspaper Diario Sport. In the newspaper interview, Abidal said: "Many players weren't satisfied or working hard and there was also an internal communication problem. The chairman has spoken to Abidal and Messi to calm things down and say take it easy.

Source: BBC February 05, 2020 22:30 UTC