Qatari club president Al-Sadd, Turki al-Ali, said on Wednesday that the club will retain Spanish coach Xavi Hernandez as a delegation from Barcelona begins a visit to Qatar’s capital, Doha, to attempt a seduction operation.
The delegation arrived on Wednesday night, including vice president Rafa Yuste and football director Mateu Alemany. Former Barça coach Ronald Koeman was fired about a week ago.
Main favorite After the succession of the Dutch coach, former star of the Catalan club Xavi Hernandez is still in charge of Al-Sadd, with whom he signed in May a two-year contract renewal, until 2023.
“The club’s position has been clear from the start: we want to keep our coach Xavi and we cannot be without him at this delicate time of the season,” said Turki al-Ali, according to a club tweet published while the Spanish delegation watched to a match between Al-Sadd and Al-Duhail.
The Qatari club, however, welcomed the Barça delegation, saying it “appreciates and respects this”.
Turki Al-Ali, CEO of #AlSadd Club: We welcome the visit of the administrative delegation from #Barcelona, and we appreciate and respect this. pic.twitter.com/Xs6ciiUJrh
— ???? #76 Al Sadd SC | Al Sadd Club (@AlsaddSC) November 3, 2021
Rafa Yuste assured journalists present at the game that the absence of president Joan Laporta had not offended the Qatar team, adding that relations between the two clubs are “very good”.
The leaders of the two teams will meet after Wednesday night’s game, and have stated that they will meet again on Thursday morning.
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