Shock Dismissal: Football Manager Fired for Relying on AI to Call Game-Changing Moves

So, here’s a head-scratcher for you: what happens when a football manager starts treating ChatGPT like his assistant coach? Spanish manager Robert Moreno, while helming FC Sochi, allegedly handed over his playbook to an AI chatbot — and let’s just say, things got weird fast. From travel itineraries demanding players stay awake for 28 hours straight to AI-picked transfer decisions, it sounds like a sci-fi plot gone off the rails. Moreno vehemently denies ever letting artificial intelligence call the shots, but Sochi’s former sporting director spills the beans on a very tech-reliant regime that might have cost Moreno his job. Makes you wonder: should chatbot tips be allowed in the huddle, or is this just a cautionary tale of too much tech and not enough human touch? Dive into this uncanny tale of football, AI, and chaos to see what really went down. LEARN MORE.

Spanish football manager Robert Moreno reportedly handed over the reins to ChatGPT while he was running FC Sochi.

The 48-year-old has been accused of putting the AI chatbot in charge of key decisions while coaching players at the Russian club.

His alleged reliance on technology was rumbled because of a chaotic travel itinerary, which he had supposedly asked ChatGPT to whip up, it has been claimed.

Moreno has vehemently denied the claims, insisting he has ‘never used’ any form of artificial intelligence to ‘prepare for matches, decide lineups, or choose players’.

However, Sochi’s former sporting director Andrei Orlov says otherwise.

Moreno, who previously managed Spain’s national team on an interim basis, announced in September last year that he would be leaving his role at the club. The team only bagged a single point after seven matches under his leadership.

Robert Moreno reportedly relied on ChatGPT to make key decisions while heading up FC Sochi, although he has denied the claims (Francis Gonzalez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In a social media post announcing his departure, he said that after a ‘frank discussion’, it had been ‘mutually agreed that the best course of action for the team is to part ways’.

“In professional football, integrity and loyalty to the club must always come first,” Moreno wrote. “I sincerely believe this is the most responsible decision that will allow the club to successfully achieve its goals this season. I have given up most of my contract to give the club more room to make new acquisitions.

“I leave with a clear conscience, knowing that I gave everything for these flowers, and I sincerely wish FC Sochi great success in the future.”

However, Sochi’s former sporting director Andrei Orlov has now alleged that Moreno’s exit was actually down to his dependence upon ChatGPT. He has claimed that the team’s former manager regularly consulted the AI chatbot while working out the logistics for away games, training regimes and transfer strategies.

After allegedly asking ChatGPT to create a schedule for the Sochi players ahead of an away game in Khabarovsk, it bizarrely ordered the football aces to remain awake for 28 consecutive hours. Additionally, team members were reportedly told to attend a training session at 7am two days before the match.

Orlov told Sports Russia in an interview: “When we were preparing for a trip to Khabarovsk, Robert said, ‘I’ve got it all figured out. I’ve set up all the trip parameters in ChatGPT.’

He allegedly asked ChatGPT to help him plan itineraries for away games, training regimes and transfer strategies (Getty Stock Image)

“I looked at the presentation: it showed that the players weren’t supposed to sleep for 28 hours. I asked, ‘Robert, that’s all great, but when are the guys going to sleep?’

“[The players] didn’t understand why we had to wake up at five in the morning and train at seven. We had Oleg Kozhemyakin on our team, who had played a year for SKA (Khabarovsk) just before Sochi.

“Moreno didn’t even consult with him. In the end, we followed the schedule created by ChatGPT.”

According to Orlov, the AI chatbot even had the final say on which new striker would be signed to Sochi last summer.

While the club were pondering over whether Vladimir Pisarsky, Pavel Meleshin and Artur Shushenachev would be the best fit, Moreno is alleged to have asked ChatGPT who would be most suitable.

“Moreno entered the data of Pisarsky, Meleshin, and Shushenachev from Wyscout into ChatGPT,” Orlov claimed. “Shushenachev emerged as the best, according to GPT.”

Sharing his thoughts on Sachi’s former manager supposedly using ChatGPT for these huge decisions, Orlov added: “An additional tool – why not? But for Moreno, GPT eventually became one of his primary tools.

Andrei Orlov has claimed that Moreno’s use of the AI chatbot led to his sacking (Instagram/@robertmoreno)

“Towards the end, the Russian core was very unhappy with Moreno, and the foreigners weren’t so confident in his ideas either. He was completely unsympathetic to his assistants and players – people sensed it.”

The club were relegated from the Russian Premier League to the First League under Moreno’s leadership, but they have now earned their spot back.

In a statement shared with Spanish newspaper La Razón, the former manager said: “I have never used ChatGPT (or any AI) to prepare for matches, decide lineups, or choose players. Like any professional coaching staff, we use analysis tools (video, data, scouting) to organize information, but the sporting and human decisions are always made by the coach and his staff.

“A chat doesn’t prepare my matches or choose players. In modern football, we use analytical tools (video, data, and scouting platforms), but the sporting decisions—who plays, how we train, and what profiles we need—are always made by the coaching staff with professional judgment. Regarding the aforementioned striker: presenting him as an ‘algorithm choice’ isn’t accurate.

“His signing was a club process, led by the Sporting Director and validated by the coach; furthermore, he scored in the Cup and had a period of injury that affected his continuity, as happens in any team.

“From Sochi, I take away the work and the lessons learned. I’m not going to get into arguments with people from the past.”

LADbible has contacted Moreno and FC Sochi for comment.