• Former Barcelona player Eric Abdial received a liver transplant to treat a tumor in 2012. His donor is said to be his first cousin Gérard Armand.

  • Spanish justice is investigating the origin of the liver in question and suspects that it is actually the result of organ trafficking involving Sandro Rosell, the former boss of Barça.

  • On Monday,

    El Confidencial

    revealed that a report from the Spanish Institute of Toxicology concluded that there was no relationship between Abidal and Armand.

The report sent to the court investigating the liver transplant received by Eric Abidal does not clarify whether there is a relationship with the donor, because the evidence is "incomplete", according to the defense of the former president of the Barca Sandro Rosell.

Eric Abidal, Sandro Rosell and former Barça manager Juan José Castillo are under investigation for alleged irregularities surrounding the liver transplant that saved him from a tumor in 2012, and a suspicion of buying illegal body.

The firm of lawyer Pau Molins, which defends Rosell, told AFP on Tuesday that the report does not comment on a possible relationship between Abidal and his donor Gérard Armand, and that he would need to do so conduct additional examinations.

If no relationship is established at the end of these examinations, this would support the hypothesis of an illegal organ purchase, which Rosell has always denied.

Rosell's attorney strikes back

On Monday, Spanish media

El Confidencial

claimed that the Spanish Institute of Toxicology "could not prove that former FC Barcelona player Eric Abidal and his supposed cousin who donated part of his liver to him in 2012, Gérard Armand, are from the same family”.

"The examinations carried out for this purpose are incomplete, and the court could require new ones, as suggested by the National Institute of Toxicology itself," said the law firm in a press release sent to AFP claiming a once again the innocence of the former president of Barça (2010-2014).

“If this court wishes to obtain conclusive results for its investigation, it should request that biological samples be taken from the two parents of Mr. Armand as well as from the two parents of Mr. Abidal, if they are available, or at least possible biological brothers and/or sisters,” the report adds.

Thus, according to the law firm of Pau Molins, "we cannot affirm, as certain media have done in an unfounded and unjust manner, and which contradict each other when the report is shown to them, that Messrs. Armand and Abidal 'have any kind of family relationship'.

Gérard Armand no longer trusts Abidal

Contacted by the Parisian, Armand Gérard for his part claimed to be the first cousin of Abidal.

"His father is my mother's brother, and I had brought the birth certificate to prove it when I was summoned to Barcelona in court," he assured our colleagues.

Which does not prevent him, as we tell you on Monday, from doubting more and more that a portion of liver served the former Lyonnais well.

"I haven't heard from [Abidal] for four years," he said.

When the case came out, we got confused.

I had told him that it was not a man.

Since then, nothing.

(…) I'm not going to lie to you, I knew we were going to come to this.

From the start, this story has been shady.

I thought to myself, the longer this case takes, the weirder it gets.

It's been going on for four years though.

There, I worry.

And I don't trust him at all anymore.

As a reminder, the doubts about a possible recourse to organ trafficking come from telephone calls between Rosell and an unknown interlocutor registered in the directory of the ex-president under the name of "Juanjo", intercepted by the police in April. 2017. Transmitted to justice, they gave rise to the opening of an investigation for presumption of organ trafficking.

"Mr. Rosell did not participate or intervene in any way in the management of Mr. Abidal's transplant," his lawyers insisted on Tuesday.

Sport

Abidal liver transplant: There would be no relationship between the former Barcelona defender and his donor cousin

Sport

Abidal liver transplant: “I would like to know if someone has made a profit with my body”, the donor expresses his doubts

  • Soccer

  • Eric Abidal

  • Organ trafficking

  • FC Barcelona

  • Sport