Valencia president forced to leave after "kill" player threats made in leaked footage

Valencia have confirmed Anil Murthy has left the club as president with immediate effect after he threatened the "kill" the reputation of a player.

Murthy threatened to destroy Carlos Soler in the media if the midfielder did not pen a new contract at the club. Murthy had claimed that the leaked audio footage, which was claimed to be his voice, had been edited.

Spanish newspaper Superdeporte published the audio recording in April in which a voice, which they reported as Murthy's, threatened to ruin the reputation of the Spain international should he refuse to commit his future to the club and instead leave the Mestalla as a free agent.

The voice, reported to be Murthy's, said: "If you leave for free in January, I'll kill you (in the press)." The man adds: "I'll put down €100k to kill (Soler). Because you have to bring in money, you grew up in the academy, and the club has invested a lot of money in you."

Valencia initially accused the Valencian newspaper of running a "smear campaign" against the club but they did not deny that Murthy was the voice nor that the recordings were real. The club said the footage was "taken out of context, from a private conversation and recorded illegitimately" before adding that the footage had been "edited and adulterated to convey a false or biased narrative."

The club added: "This move is part of the smear campaign against Valencia CF that Superdeporte have been carrying out in recent months. This matter is in the hands of the Valencia CF legal department, which is already studying the measures to be taken against Superdeporte and its director."

However, Valencia have now released a further update confirming that Murthy was the individual in the recordings but what he had said was