Barcelona deny claim of ‘illegal purchase’ of transplant liver for Abidal
BARCELONA: Spanish champions Barcelona have denied a local media report that former president Sandro Rosell arranged the illegal purchase of a liver for the club’s then defender Eric Abidal, in 2013.
El Confidencial has claimed that police phone taps recorded Rosell, who has been detained for 18 months on money-laundering charges, admitting that he had “bought an illegal liver” for the player, who had been diagnosed with a tumour in 2011.
Abidal, who is now the club’s director of football, has always maintained that the liver was donated by his cousin Gerard. He had transplant surgery in 2012 at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, which has said it followed “the letter of the law” with his transplant.
According to El Confidencial, however, Rosell’s calls raised doubts over the donor’s identity and were passed to a judge who was investigating allegations about the liver having been purchased illegally.
Spain’s national transplant organisation said it had no evidence to suggest any wrongdoing in the case, but had decided to launch a joint investigation with the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and the Catalan transplant authorities, as a precautionary measure, in line with its “zero tolerance” approach to organ trafficking.
A club statement of denial in response to the report said: “FC Barcelona emphatically denies that there was anything irregular about it, as have both he and the directors of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.”
The statement said El Confidencial’s report had also left out the “key fact” that the investigation into Rosell’s alleged purchase of the organ had been shelved by a Catalan court in May last year.
The club said it deeply regretted “the lack of rigour in the reporting of such a sensitive issue” and wished to underline its commitment to both Abidal and the foundation he established five years ago to help children with similar medical problems.
A separate statement from the Eric Abidal Foundation has also denied the reports, insisting that “the entire transplant process was conducted according to established protocols and procedures”.
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