Barcelona and France defender Eric Abidal will be out of action for an unspecified amount of time after he undergoes surgery to remove a tumour of the liver on Friday, according to the club's official twitter feed via FIFA.com:
Barcelona Defender Eric Abidal To Have Surgery For Liver Tumor
A liver tumour has been detected in the player Eric Abidal and he will be treated surgically next Friday. Abidal will be operated on by Dr Josep Fuster Obregon. Per the express wish of the player, we call for the utmost respect for the right to privacy.
It's unlikely that a liver tumour would have been detected unless it was affecting Abidal's health, so he has presumably been playing at partial fitness for some time. The prognosis is unclear, and with Barcelona refusing to divulge the details of the operation we could see Abidal missing virtually any amount of time. Hopefully the situation isn't serious and the defender can be back to full fitness shortly.
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