New international boss denies he was sacked for using ChatGPT for tactics

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FT Desk

South Korea's new interim boss has denied reports that he lost his previous job due to a reliance on ChatGPT.

When Robert Moreno was sacked as FC Sochi manager last September, the party line was that he was dismissed for poor performances on the pitch as the club had picked up just one point in seven matches since being promoted to the Russian Premier League.

However, it was confirmed by club officials that Moreno was sent packing due to excessive use of the artificial intelligence tool, ChatGPT.

The Spaniard would put prompts into the tool for advice on tactics, training logistics and even scouting.

On one occasion, Moreno created a new training programme that would have seen his players kept awake for 28 hours straight - as per the advice from ChatGPT.

⚽️ In Russia, a football coach relied heavily on ChatGPT to prepare his team — and the club got relegated to a lower division

According to statements from the club's former deputy general direct, FC Sochi head coach Robert Moreno actively used AI in his work with the players.… pic.twitter.com/BCC0F7QRf5

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 23, 2026

Former sporting director Andrei Orlov recalled the moment to Sports Russia: "When we were preparing the trip to Khabarovsk, Robert said 'I already have everything planned. I entered all the parameters of the trip in ChatGPT'.

"I looked at the presentation and saw that the players could not sleep for 28 hours. I asked: 'Robert, this is all very beautiful, but when are the boys going to sleep?'

"The players didn't understand why we had to wake up at five in the morning to train at seven."

After South Korea's disastrous World Cup campaign, Moreno was later announced as interim boss and was forced to make a statement on the allegations from his former employers.

“It was a piece of news that is completely false and went viral," he said.

“Obviously, I use technology.

“Anyone who spends 10 minutes looking into it can see that everything has been taken out of context and put together to cause harm.”

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said Moreno could stay on for the Asian Cup in January-February, “subject to an evaluation”.

At Sochi, Moreno would also take information from tools such as WyScout and feed it into ChatGPT for advice on players to sign.

This happened when Sochi were trying to decide on one of three players - Vladimir Pisarsky, Pavel Meleshin or Artur Shushenachev.

"We were looking for a spearhead, choosing between Vladimir Pisarsky, Pavel Meleshin and Artur Shushenachev. Moreno entered the data of the three players in ChatGPT and Shushenachev emerged as the best," said Orlov.

"An additional tool, why not? But for Moreno, GPT ended up becoming one of his main tools. In the end, the Russian core of the squad was very unhappy with Moreno and the foreigners also no longer trusted his ideas. He didn't show any empathy for the deputies and players and people felt it."

Shushenachev was brought in on loan but didn't score in 10 games.