Izuchukwu OkosiSpain and Barcelona legend Gerard Piqué has announced his retirement from football as confirmed in a video posted on his social media accounts Friday night.
FC Barçelona’s La Liga fixture against Almeria at the Spotify Camp Nou this weekend will be Pique’s last match for the team.
The former Manchester United defender has had an amazing career and his fame on the pitch was made even bigger by his relationship with top singer Shakira albeit their union has hit the rocks.
Pique owns a media franchise that has the rights to the Ligue 1 and the Spanish Super Cup.
There are mooted talks that his surprise retirement may have been because of the deferred salary payments that Barcelona players have been subjected to – even after salary cuts – in the aftermath of financial crisis that the club had to go through.
Many Barcelona players have had to either take massive pay cuts or be sold to other clubs.
Other players whom the club have chosen to retain deferred their payments albeit there has been several levers that the club fell back on to raise cash during the summer transfer window.
The Champions League and World Cup winner will also be fondly remembered for his Franz Beckenbauer style of defending.
Piqué’s influence has even led to calls from the club heirachy to ensure that he a role to play at the Management level
The 35-year-old Pique has had a glittering football career filled with the following trophies for FC Barçelona, Manchester United and Spain:
8 La Liga
Premier League
7 Copa del Rey
4 UEFA Champions League
3 UEFA Super Cup
3 FIFA Club World Cup
6 Supercopa de España
1 FA Community Shield
1 FIFA World Cup
1 UEFA European Championship
1 UEFA European U-19 Championship
The Barcelona players are expected to form a guard of honour for the beanpole player before the kickoff of the game against Almeria this weekend.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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