Barcelona cuts player hours after signing him for old offensive tweets about the club

Another day, another athlete stung by past comments on social media.

FC Barcelona of La Liga terminated the contract of Sergi Guardiola just hours after signing him as a reserve forward, after discovering offensive tweets he posted two years ago about the club and Catalonia.

Barça B new signing… pic.twitter.com/hBnzrELY7D

— . (@xJude22) December 28, 2015

Not all the tweets are concerning, as they basically translate into showing support for Barca rival Real Madrid, but the phrase “puta cataluña” which Deadspin relays as”Fuck Catalonia,” is certainly concerning.

FC Barcelona acted quickly, announcing on their team website they were ditching Guardiola after the discovery.

“FC Barcelona has decided to terminate the contract signed with Sergi Guardiola, after finding that he had published offensive tweets about the club and Catalonia.”

Guardiola, 24, spoke to the Spanish Radio station Cope on Monday and admitted he understood the decision, but says it wasn’t him who sent out the damning tweets.

“I know I made a mistake. I apologize to Catalonia and Barcelona. I understand the decision, I’d do the same.”

“I want to make clear I didn’t write those tweets. A friend took my phone and did it.”

“It’s a misunderstanding. The tweets are from 2013, a joke from a friend, I didn’t even know the tweets existed.”

Going with the “I’ve been hacked by a friend” excuse in 2015 is pretty sad, even if the tweets were sent in the “I’ve been hacked by a friend” heyday of 2013. Guardiola has justifiably locked his Twitter account, and if he’s a smart man I’d bet we won’t hear from him on Twitter in a long time.

[BBC] [Image via Barcelona FC]