By Joiner Martínez
Feb 23, 2024, 9:20 PM EST
Mexican coach Rafa Márquez used his social networks to advertise a Mexican betting house, something that was disapproved of by FC Barcelona.
Márquez was urged to delete his publications upon learning of the club’s own contrary opinion, taking into account that this type of advertising is prohibited in Spain, hence the strong criticism he has received.
Rafa Márquez, coach of the Barcelona reserve team, published first on the social network They provoked angry reactions among Barça fans and motivated the club itself to take action on the matter immediately.
“He was informed that these actions outside the club must be reviewed by the compliance department, which is now working to adjust the legal vacuum that may exist in this type of contracts,” explained the source consulted, who downplayed the supposed seriousness of the issue by stating that the Mexican coach “has already deleted his posts about it from his X and Instagram profiles.”
Márquez will maintain his contract with this betting house, but will only advertise in his country either in the form of advertisements or interviews. On the other hand, the coach has deleted everything he had on this topic on his social networks.
It so happens that Barcelona has an agreement with a betting house outside of Spain. However, it did not conflict with that of the coach since there was no prohibition in this regard in his contract with the club and it did not conflict with the club’s betting house either.
FC Barcelona is committed to the continuity of Rafa Márquez
FC Barcelona continues to bet on the continuity of Rafa Márquez at the head of Barça Atlètic, since they are happy with his work in the reserve team and the desire is to maintain the collaboration that began a couple of seasons ago.
The Mexican coach is not on the list of future candidates to take charge of the first team, although he could at a certain point take over the position on an interim basis if the urgency arose.
The interest in continuing to be linked to the culé entity is independent of the anger in the club over its new commercial action in favor of a betting house in its country. Rafa Márquez used his Instagram account again to advertise the same sports betting brand, although she has since removed it.
In June 2023, Barça made Rafa Márquez’s first renewal official for the 2023-2024 season. At that time, it was expected because at Camp Nou they were very satisfied with his work. The same thing happens now, especially because he has been forced to face many difficulties, with the first team relying on youth players to complete a short squad with many injured.
The Mexican coach, who returned to the Barça club in the summer of 2022 after his time as a player between 2003 and 2010, will initially be offered one more season. Márquez has the support of president Joan Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste and the director responsible for youth football Joan Soler, the president of Barça Atlètic Jordi Casals and the director of youth football José Ramón Alexanco.
Keep reading:
Rafa Márquez in serious problems with FC Barcelona for promoting a betting house
“Pep Guardiola had to separate us”: Rafa Márquez tells of the strong argument he had with Messi
Deco ruled out Rafa Márquez for FC Barcelona: “I would only be the first team coach in case of emergency”