Eric Abidal accuses Barcelona of not paying his salary during his illness

Eric Abidal played 125 league games for Barcelona

Eric Abidal has indicted Barcelona for not paying his salary during his fight against liver cancer, for which he had to undergo a liver transplant in last April to come back to good health terms.

The 34-year-old defender who plays for Monaco now was disgruntled by how Barcelona handled his last press conference in which both the parties announced that they had parted ways.

Eric Abidal said: “What was hard to understand was what Barcelona said during my last press conference. By saying that it was a professional choice, it made other clubs doubt.

“It wasn’t even a question of money. The proof being that all the months I was ill, the club didn’t pay me. Now I’m lucky to have the trust of the Monaco coach and president. Touch wood, everything’s fine. But it’s true that there was a time when I doubted myself.”

In an interview with the sports daily L’Equipe, Abidal admitted that it was difficult to leave Catalonia after spending six years with the club. The French international said: “The problem was that my contract was coming to an end. In that case, either it’s renewed, either it ends. I was prepared for both.

“It was hard to accept but you don’t have the choice. The adventure with Barcelona is over, but I’m very happy to have started another one with Monaco.”

Since joining Monaco, Abidal has played 90 minutes for the club in all their league games and is also in contention for their World Cup qualifier against Georgia this Friday.

Abidal also revealed that he would have continued to play for the Blaugrana club had Pep Guardiola not left from his position as a coach. He said: “He’s someone who appreciates me enormously and I’m still in touch with. He was a great coach. He’s the one who gave me my chance. If he was still there, I may have continued [with Barcelona].”