24 Feb 2012

Parish priest puts Barca fans' minds at rest

3:52 pm on 24 February 2012

Barcelona football fans worried that coach Pep Guardiola might not extend his contract beyond this season have been reassured by Guardiola's home town priest that the former Barca and Spain midfielder will stay with the club.

The Rwandan priest who has run the local church in Guardiola's home town since 2007 told Spanish radio he thought the 41-year-old was highly unlikely to leave as he had such strong links to the Catalan club.

Guardiola, who has led Barca to 13 trophies since he took over in 2008, prefers to renew his contract on an annual basis, but he said last weekend he needed more time to decide whether to stay on beyond the end of this season.