Barcelona Sporting Director Accuses De Jong Of ‘Faking’ Illness To Miss Antwerp Match

Barcelona sporting director, Deco has reportedly accused Frankie de Jong of “faking” an illness which saw him miss Barcelona’s Champions League clash at Antwerp, which they lost.

Barcelona had already qualified for the round of 16 after defeating Porto to win Group H. As a result, from a sporting standpoint, the match against Antwerp was meaningless. However, according to UEFA statistics, a substantial $3 million (£2.4 million) in prize money was still up for grabs. As a result, it’s thought that president Joan Laporta urged Xavi to include all of the team’s senior players. As a result, Ronald Araujo, Ilkay Gundogan, and Robert Lewandowski received their boarding cards just hours before they left for Belgium. De Jong, however, was left out along with three other senior players who chose not to travel because of “feverish” weather.

READ ALSO: Kimmich Emerges As Top Target For Barcelona’s Midfield Rebuild

According to RAC1, Sporting director Deco was furious to see De Jong missing from the group and called him up to get clarity from the player. He did not believe that De Jong was sick and even asked for a certificate from a doctor to confirm his claims. The pair then got involved in an argument, according to the report, as De Jong maintained that he was feeling unwell.

However, conflicting reports from Sport present a different version of events. They claim that although the phone call between Deco and De Jong did take place it had an informative and friendly tone, with Deco checking on De Jong’s well-being and instructing him to stay in contact with the doctor.

There have reportedly been internal conflicts as a result of the issue, and the club has apologised for trying to undermine it by disseminating false information. The question now is if De Jong recovers in time for Barcelona’s next game, which is against Valencia on Sunday at Mestalla. It might be a big one for manager Xavi, who is under a lot of pressure.