Guy Dresser | Royal Canoe Club - Olympic canoeist David Cal, Spain’s most prolific Olympic medalist with five medals to his name, is to leave the country and train for the next Olympic Games in Brazil.

The decision, played out extensively in the Spanish media, came after Cal’s long-standing coach had his salary cut by 14% by the Spanish canoe federation and decided to accept a better job offer with the Brazilian team.

Fariñas Morlán Jesus, who wrote a book about his campaign to help Cal win his fifth Olympic medal last year, told the canoeist he could not afford to remain coaching in Spain if his pay got cut again. Cal told him that if his coach retired, so would he.

In the end, the Brazilians came calling with an offer that was too good to refuse. Morlán said that as Spain’s financial situation worsened and cuts affected the canoeists funded by the national federation, he’d been warning of the wolf at the door.

“In the end the wolf did come and it’s called Brazil,” he reflected.

Cal, who is aiming for a sixth Olympic medal in Rio, says he’s looking forward to  training on the Olympic course in Brazil.

The Spanish media is in uproar about the exile of their most famous sportsman and there is much veiled criticism of the country’s canoe federation. There are suggestions in one national newspaper, El Pais, that Cal received limited attention from it – Cal himself says that in the entire four year period between Beijing and London he had spent just ten minutes  with the canoe federation’s president.

For his part, the president, Juan Jose Roman, hit back, saying he did not like to interfere in the daily routines of athletes and that he saw them all at competitions.

One thing is clear, according to the media anyway: the Spanish canoe federation made no counter-offer to try and keep Morlán, who – according to one report – is set to triple his salary in Brazil. Such are the financial realities in Spain, where the global debt crisis has hit particularly hard.

CLARIFICATION 25-02-2013  -   David Cal will train in Brazil but remains racing for Spain. His coach will be employed by the Brazilian federation.