Olympiacos FC announces the start of the club’s collaboration with Mr. Antonio Cordón Ruiz, who is assuming the position of sports director.
Antonio Cordón Ruiz was born on December 19, 1963, in Badajoz, Spain. He worked as a Physical Education teacher, football coordinator, and coach at the University of Madrid “San Agustín,” as well as a trainer with second division Spanish teams. In 1999, Cordón took over as scout and analyst at Villarreal, until he became the sports director of the Spanish club. During his 17 years at Villarreal, he acquired a number of footballers who made him one of the most successful sports managers in professional football. Led by Cordón, the Spanish team reached the semi-finals of the Champions League (2005–2006) and Europa League (2010–2011), the quarterfinals of the Champions League (2008–2009), and won second place in the Spanish Championship (2007–2008).
In 2016, he assumed the position of sports director at Monaco. Following Cordón’s reorganisation on a structural and playing level, the team won the championship in France against the almighty Paris Saint-Germain for the first time in 17 years, with coach Leonardo Jardim, and reached the Champions League semi-finals and the French League Cup final, working with players such as Mbappé, Bernardo Silva, Medy, Bakayoco and Fabinho.
After 1.5 years in Monaco, he accepted the proposal of the Chinese club Hope, and assumed the position of CEO, managing four teams (Granada, Chongqing Liangjiang, Parma, Tondela) in four different countries (Spain, China, Italy, Portugal). During this time, Granada secured a promotion to the first division of Spanish football.
In January 2020, he signed for Ecuador’s national team, assuming the post of sports director. In July of the same year, he left due to the situation formed by the coronavirus pandemic and signed with Betis. As general and sports director of Betis, for 2.5 seasons, he led the team to the Europa League in the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 seasons, as well as to conquering the Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) in April 2022.
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