Barcelona icon Xavi Hernández is facing up to an ongoing punishment on the part of those in a position of power at his former club.
This comes by way of a temporary ban from lining out for ‘Barca Legends’.
Xavi was a surprise absence from the squad list for each of the Barca Legends team’s last two fixtures, played out in Miami, and Seoul.
According to Diario AS, as much comes as a result of his public support for Victor Font, Joan Laporta’s chief rival in the recent Blaugrana presidential elections.
Alejandro Echevarría, a close associate of Laporta, is in charge of team selection for the Barca Legends, and made a point of omitting Xavi as a result.
This call did not go down at all well with the 46-year-old himself, said to have been left ‘angry and indignant’ with his one-time employers.
Xavi was excited to play his part in both the USA and South Korea, owing chiefly to the presence of close friends Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Javier Mascherano in the Blaugrana’s ranks.
AS conclude that ‘the Barcelona club are trying to downplay Xavi Hernández’s situation, assuring that it is a temporary issue that will be resolved as time goes on’.
Conor Laird – GSFN
