Palmeiras chief on Abel's Qatari club saga: “He thought, then backed off” | OneFootball

Anderson Barros, football director of Palmeiras, commented on the imbroglio the club had with Al Sadd, from Qatar, in which Abel Ferreira was said to have “made a commitment” to the foreign club at the end of 2024, before renewing with Verdão. The executive admitted that, at that time, the coach nearly left the club.

“There was a certain moment, when there was the possibility of the Qatari club… At that point, he (Abel) thought about it, but he himself backed off and understood that he should stay here with us. That’s what he always told me. Before everything happened, he told me, ‘this happened, I did this, and I need you to resolve this issue.’ And that’s what Palmeiras did,” he said in an interview with ESPN.

“It’s not easy to have just one coach, you need to keep reinventing yourself every day. He did make a commitment to the Qatari club, which is why we reached an agreement so the matter could be settled,” he continued.

Case recap

The situation recalled by Barros took place in 2024. Al Sadd filed a case against Abel Ferreira with FIFA, demanding a fine of around R$ 28 million, alleging that the Portuguese coach had breached a pre-contract signed in November 2023.

The Qatari side argued that the Portuguese coach had committed to taking over Al Sadd in December, shortly after the end of the season in Brazil. Even with the foreign club’s interest in Abel, the coach returned to Palmeiras in January and renewed his contract until the end of 2025.

Currently, Abel Ferreira is under contract with Palmeiras until the end of 2027 and is playing his sixth full season at the club this year. With the Campeonato Paulista title, he became the outright leader in the ranking of coaches with the most trophies won with the team.

Palmeiras’ next match

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.