Barcelona, Spain – Barcelona confirmed on Friday that manager Tito Vilanova is stepping down in order to continue his treatment for throat cancer.
Club president Sandro Rosell made the announcement in a brief statement with Barcelona's players present on Friday.
"Today we are before you to give you news that I would never have wanted to give," Rosell said. "After evaluating the follow up exams of Tito, the option to continue his treatment will be incompatible with his development as coach beginning right now."
Rosell said that a replacement for Vilanova would be named in the near future, while also stating that Barcelona's friendly with Lechia Gdansk in Poland on Saturday had been canceled.
"Over the next few days, we will be presenting a new coach, probably at the beginning of next week," said Rosell. "We have met with all the players, with the captains and the veterans and we have decided not to play in Poland tomorrow."
The 44-year-old Vilanova needed to take a medical break on two occasions in the past two seasons, once during the 2011-12 campaign as an assistant and again when he took over as manager last term.
In his one season in charge of Barcelona, Vilanova guided the team to the Spanish league title with a 100-point season.
