Ex-Spain manager sacked for using ChatGPT amid growing AI influence on football

Officials at Russian Premier League side Sochi say manager Roberto Moreno was sacked for his excessive use of AI.

Moreno, who briefly coached Spain in 2019 after Luis Enrique departed for personal reasons, had managed Sochi since 2023. The 48-year-old guided Sochi to the Russian Premier League after promotion via the play-offs last season.

However, the club dismissed him back in September 2025, after a run of just one point in their first seven games in the top flight.

Whilst you may think it was purely this poor form that led to the Spaniard’s departure, club officials have now revealed the bizarre reasons that led to his sacking at the club.

| FC Sochi’s former general director revealed that ex coach Robert Moreno regularly relied on ChatGPT for training sessions tactics and even team travel while at the club.

One AI itinerary for a trip to Khabarovsk would have left players without sleep for 28 hours.… pic.twitter.com/1iCba4j7K5

— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) January 25, 2026

How Roberto Moreno’s use of AI got him the sack

Now the dust has settled on Moreno’s reign, Sochi officials have revealed the main factor behind his sacking was the Spaniard’s over-reliance on AI.

Club sources revealed the former Spain coach made extensive use of ChatGPT to organise everything from team training, match preparation and even the team travel plans.

It was an approach that led to friction within the club’s hierarchy and raised serious questions over Moreno’s credentials as a football manager.

Moreno used ChatGPT for transfers

During Sochi’s promotion-winning season, the club had been looking to add more firepower to their attack with another striker.

The club had narrowed the choice down to three players – Vladimir Pisarsky, Pavel Meleshin and Artur Shushenachev.

After feeding scouting data into ChatGPT, the AI software concluded that Shushenachev was the best option, and the club went on to secure his services on loan.

Whilst Sochi did secure promotion, this was no thanks to the Kazakhstan international. Despite being cherry-picked for success by ChatGPT, Shushenachev failed to score in ten appearances for the club.

ChatGPT’s hilariously flawed travel plan

The AI software was utilised for logistics as well – and that’s when eyebrows were particularly raised.

In preparation for their trip to Khabarovsk, one of the longest away trips in the Russian top-flight, travel plans were prepared by ChatGPT to ensure the most efficient player preparations.

However, Sochi’s staff were left in shock after Moreno presented his plans to the club’s senior officials. After delegating the schedule to AI, officials noticed the Spaniard’s proposed schedule would have seen his players go 28 consecutive hours without sleep.

Whilst the schedule was later adapted, the incident raised serious concerns over Moreno’s use of AI to manage the team.

Recalling the incident, Sochi’s former general director, Andrei Orlov, said: “Robert said everything was already planned with ChatGPT.”

Robert Moreno’s ChatGPT use was “excessive”

However, despite these concerning tales, it was not Moreno’s use of AI that raised concerns.

Orlov explained: “It’s a tool like any other – why not use it?”. Sochi were happy to use AI to assist in matters, but thought Moreno’s use of the tool was excessive. 

By using ChatGPT to delegate on key matters in the club, the Russian side lost patience with their coach, replacing him with Igor Osinkin.

AI’s creeping influence in football

The news should come as no surprise, given the increased use of ChatGPT for other tasks in the world of work – including writing this article.

No, just kidding. But it was only a matter of time before something as high-profile as this happened in football.

In fact, Moreno is not alone in using AI to help coach his team. During the 23/24 season, Liverpool used ‘Tactic AI’ for corner kick routines. It is said that coaches and analysts at the club favoured the software’s suggestions in 90% of corner kick scenarios that season.

More recently, Seattle Reign coach Laura Harvey admitted she used ChatGPT to assist her with tactics in the NWSL.

Speaking on the Soccerish Podcast back in October, the Englishwoman said: “One day in the off-season, I was writing things into ChatGPT like, ‘what is Seattle Reign’s identity?’ And it would spurt it out. And I was like ‘I don’t know if that’s true or not.

“And then I put in ‘what formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?’ and it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams, it went ‘you should play a back five.’ So I did. No joke, that’s why I did it.”

With that in mind, surely it’s only a matter of time before we hear another story like Moreno’s at Sochi.