Tito Vilanova on the eve of the UEFA Champions League semifinal second-leg match against Bayern Munich on April 30. Lluis Gene / Agence France-Presse

Assistant leads candidates as Barca searches for new coach

Cancer-stricken Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova quit on Friday to undergo further treatment for his illness, the president of the Spanish champion, Sandro Rosell, said.

The 44-year-old Vilanova had a tumor removed from a salivary gland in his throat in November 2011 and in December 2012 he suffered a relapse.

He underwent surgery again followed by 10 weeks of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in New York. Vilanova returned to the helm of Barcelona in March and led the club to the Spanish league title.

"After evaluating the results of routine tests this week, Tito Vilanova has been presented with the option of carrying out a treatment to continue to control his illness which will make it incompatible to carry out the role of first team coach from now on," Rosell said.

"I want to ask everyone, especially the media, in the name of his family to show the maximum respect for the privacy of the whole process which will start now," he said, adding, his replacement will be announced "probably in the beginning of next week".

Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia reported Joan Francesc Ferrer, known as "Rubi", could be in line to take over, while daily Sport said the former Girona coach might be a temporary replacement.

Ferrer was appointed Vilanova's assistant for the coming campaign to help with technical analysis of Barca's rivals.

Other names mentioned, all former Barca players, were Swansea's Danish manager Michael Laudrup, Celta Vigo's Spanish coach Luis Enrique and Dutchman Frank de Boer of Ajax Amsterdam.

Jupp Heynckes and Argentine Marcelo Bielsa were also named as possible candidates.

Club officials met the squad and the team decided it would not travel to Poland to face Lechia Gdansk in a preseason friendly on Saturday.

"There was no mood to do it," said Rosell, who was flanked by the club's sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta.

"I want to say that life goes on. This is a huge blow, a very hard blow, for Barcelona but Barcelona has suffered many blows and we have always overcome those blows and today will not be an exception. I ask everyone to think about people first and the club after."

Several Barcelona players, including Argintine forward Lionel Messi and veteran defender Carles Puyol, attended the conference in their kits.

Vilanova, who was under contract with Barcelona until June 2014, took over from Pep Guardiola as manager in June 2012, having previously worked as his assistant.

Last week Guardiola, who now coaches German and European champion Bayern Munich, accused Barcelona officials of using Vilanova's illness "to damage" him.

Without saying who exactly had made the accusation, Guardiola denied he had missed a chance to visit Vilanova while he was being treated in New York for cancer.

"I will never forget that they used Tito's illness to cause me damage, because it's a lie that I never saw him in New York," he said.

Guardiola was living in New York at the time while on a year-long sabbatical after leaving Barcelona. Vilanova hit back at Guardiola's comments during Barcelona's first preseason media conference on Tuesday, saying no one on the Barcelona board had used his illness to attack him.

"People aren't interested in personal matters, but Pep got it wrong and I'm surprised by his comments," said Vilanova.

(China Daily 07/21/2013 page7)