Barcelona Coach Tito Vilanova Quits Due To Throat Cancer
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Barcelona called a news conference late Friday amid reports that coach Tito Vilanova is stepping down because of a recurrence of throat cancer.
Barcelona said on its website that club president Sandro Rosell and football director Andoni Zubizarreta will hold a news conference at 2030 local time (1830 GMT). The statement does not mention Vilanova.
Several Spanish media outlets — including Antena 3 television channel and La Vanguardia, the Catalan region's main newspaper — reported that Vilanova has suffered a recurrence of a saliva gland cancer that forced him to leave the bench for long periods last season to receive treatment in New York.
La Vanguardia says the "coach resigned this afternoon after learning his illness had recurred."
Calls to Barcelona went unanswered.
Vilanova travelled to New York for a second time in May to undergo cancer treatment after having a second tumor in two years removed from his throat in December.
The club said Vilanova underwent "pioneering treatment" that had originally been scheduled for this summer but was moved forward after Barcelona clinched the Spanish league title early.
The 44-year-old coach had earlier spent 10 weeks receiving treatment in a New York hospital after undergoing surgery in Barcelona.
On Tuesday Vilanova said he needed to respond to comments former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had made in Italy. While on a pre-season training session with Bayern near Lake Garda, Guardiola caused a media storm in Spain by saying that quite a few things this year had "crossed the line." He said Barcelona's directors had unfairly criticized him over how he reacted after Vilanova had to go in for medical treatment.
Vilanova said, "Pep got it wrong," adding that no one on Barcelona's board of directors had used his illness to attack Guardiola.
He said that Guardiola had visited him only once, early on, during his stay in New York.
"But during my recovery, I spent two months there and did not see him, and that wasn't due to me. He was my friend and I needed him and he was not there for me. I would have acted differently," Vilanova said.
"It was I who was alone, who went through a bad time," Vilanova said. "It was I who needed help."
At the time Guardiola, who led Barcelona to 14 titles over four seasons and turned the Spanish club into arguably the best team in the world, was living in New York, taking a year off from sporting duties before taking up a post as coach for Bayern Munich.
Barcelona and Bayern are scheduled to play a pre-season friendly on July 24.
Several Spanish media outlets — including Antena 3 television channel and La Vanguardia, the Catalan region's main newspaper — reported that Vilanova has suffered a recurrence of a saliva gland cancer that forced him to leave the bench for long periods last season to receive treatment in New York.
La Vanguardia says the "coach resigned this afternoon after learning his illness had recurred."
Calls to Barcelona went unanswered.
Vilanova travelled to New York for a second time in May to undergo cancer treatment after having a second tumor in two years removed from his throat in December.
The club said Vilanova underwent "pioneering treatment" that had originally been scheduled for this summer but was moved forward after Barcelona clinched the Spanish league title early.
The 44-year-old coach had earlier spent 10 weeks receiving treatment in a New York hospital after undergoing surgery in Barcelona.
On Tuesday Vilanova said he needed to respond to comments former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had made in Italy. While on a pre-season training session with Bayern near Lake Garda, Guardiola caused a media storm in Spain by saying that quite a few things this year had "crossed the line." He said Barcelona's directors had unfairly criticized him over how he reacted after Vilanova had to go in for medical treatment.
Vilanova said, "Pep got it wrong," adding that no one on Barcelona's board of directors had used his illness to attack Guardiola.
He said that Guardiola had visited him only once, early on, during his stay in New York.
"But during my recovery, I spent two months there and did not see him, and that wasn't due to me. He was my friend and I needed him and he was not there for me. I would have acted differently," Vilanova said.
"It was I who was alone, who went through a bad time," Vilanova said. "It was I who needed help."
At the time Guardiola, who led Barcelona to 14 titles over four seasons and turned the Spanish club into arguably the best team in the world, was living in New York, taking a year off from sporting duties before taking up a post as coach for Bayern Munich.
Barcelona and Bayern are scheduled to play a pre-season friendly on July 24.
