São Paulo gives Arboleda 24h to explain and settle his future | OneFootball

São Paulo spoke out officially for the first time, through a statement on its website, about the situation involving center-back Aboleda, who left the club before the match against Cruzeiro this Saturday (4) and traveled to Ecuador without giving any explanation to the Tricolor.

In the official statement, the Morumbi club says it has taken all appropriate measures and sent a formal notice to Robert Arboleda this Monday (6), granting him 24 hours to provide an explanation and regularize his professional situation at São Paulo.

Shortly before that, football executive Rui Costa had already broken the silence and spoke about the defender’s disappearance, and he is not expected to play for the club again after missing training once more this Monday (6).

To the website Globo Esporte, Costa confirmed that the board has still been unable to contact the Ecuadorian, but avoided speaking about punishments and measures being decided against the player over his conduct.

“There is no justification whatsoever for this act. It is disrespectful to the group, to the management, and to São Paulo’s fans. We are trying to reestablish contact with the player to resolve the case. In any event, we have our Copa Sudamericana opener this Tuesday (7), and the players are fully focused on this next challenge,” he said.

“Arboleda was called up for the game against Cruzeiro, did not report to the Barra Funda training center, and since then we have had no official position from the player. We have a group of committed players who know that we have a run of matches over the next two months that could define our objectives for the season,” Costa added.

Also on Monday, videos began to emerge of the player at parties in Ecuador, having fun with friends and showing no concern for the club he has represented for nearly ten years.

THE CASE

AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR learned in the early hours of this Sunday (5) that the trigger for the internal crisis involving Arboleda was a reprimand from Rui Costa and Rafinha to the center-back after Friday’s training session (3) over social media posts complaining about not being used regularly by coach Roger Machado. (Click here to read our opinion on the matter)

The report managed to capture a screenshot of one of those messages, but according to accounts from São Paulo officials, there were at least three others, deleted by the player, as well as comments endorsing criticism of the coach made by fans in the replies.

Arboleda was called in for a private conversation after training at the Barra Funda training center and was told to stop it. Roger did not take part in the meeting, nor did he bring the issue to the board. “To be honest, he didn’t even know. They preferred to deal with the matter without involving him,” a source heard by AMT said.

The Ecuadorian’s reaction to the dressing-down could not have been worse. Arboleda cleared out his locker room cabinet at the training center and has been unreachable ever since. Messages came through his staff. To journalists, the player’s representatives leaked the information that he wanted to be transferred because he was not being used regularly by the coach.

That was still on Friday. This Saturday (4), after failing to show up with the squad for lunch and pre-match concentration ahead of the clash against Cruzeiro at the training center, the player’s family and friends also did not answer other club players. Only hours before the match did one of his agents say that Arboleda was in Ecuador and no longer wanted to play for São Paulo. Club officials heard by the report doubt he could have traveled in such a short time. Resigned, the coach removed him from the squad list.

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