Sebastián Eguren resigns as Nacional's sporting director following Jorge Bava's exit

The entrance to the Ciudad Deportiva at Los Céspedes was the setting Sebastián Eguren chose to step away from his role. There, in front of the microphones, Nacional's now former sporting director explained why he decided to step aside just hours after the board decided to fire head coach Jorge Bava.

The exit wasn't his alone. Alongside Eguren, Martín Ligüera, the club's technical secretary until that point, also handed in his resignation. Both men felt that once Bava's cycle had come to an end, there was no point in staying on in their positions. In the end, soccer has that unforgiving logic: when things aren't working, the heads of the sporting department often go out the door right along with the coach.

Eguren was direct about the underlying reason. He and Ligüera considered themselves the top people responsible for the club's sporting direction, and they felt that stepping back could help clear the way for the club moving forward.

It was time to bring some calm, because the sporting situation right now is far from ideal for anyone to feel settled, but this was so there wouldn't be other issues on top of it. It was simply a departure over things that didn't go well this year, and Martín and I felt like the top people responsible for the sporting area, so there was nothing else to do.Sebastián Eguren

According to Eguren, the decision wasn't a last minute reaction. He and Ligüera had already been discussing that possibility in case Bava's cycle came to an end, well aware of the weight of the responsibility resting on their shoulders.

One detail stands out in this story: just a month earlier, on July 24, Eguren had publicly backed the coaching staff's work and the decisions made from the sporting department. So what changed in such a short time? Asked about that apparent contradiction, he made it clear that his underlying stance hadn't shifted an inch.

No hard feelings, and the door closed

Eguren insisted that his conviction about the work done remains intact, but that the departure of both him and Ligüera could give the club the room it needs to make decisions without feeling constrained by their presence.

I haven't lost any strength or conviction in what we did. It's simply that, given the club's situation, I think our leaving will give the institution some breathing room to make other decisions, look for a different direction, and not feel tied down by us still being inside, he explained.

Asked for a personal assessment of his time in the role, Eguren didn't hide his emotion. He spoke of feeling "enormous pride" at being able to return to the club in this position, and stressed that he had the backing he needed to work with the freedom that, in his view, any sporting director should have.

With this resignation, Nacional now finds itself without a head coach and without leadership in its sporting department in the same weekend, a situation that forces the board to determine in the coming weeks not only the name of the next coach, but also who will take the reins of the club's soccer planning.