Tottenham Rule Out Conte Indefinitely After Abdominal Surgery

• Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is on the sidelines after undergoing surgery
• The veteran Italian manager is in his first full season at the north London club
• He is masterminding a battle to qualify Spurs for a second straight UCL spot

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that head coach, Antonio Conte will be out for the foreseeable future to recuperate after undergoing abdominal surgery.

The Italian was claimed to have felt unwell and went for tests, having handed over responsibilities to his assistant Cristian Stellini.

Stellini oversaw the press conference ahead of Spurs' FA Cup game at the weekend.

According to a statement released by the club on Twitter, Conte was diagnosed with cholecystitis and had to undergo surgery to remove his gall bladder.

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He will now be out for an unspecified time, depending on his body's recovery.

What is cholecystitis?

According to the NHS, as quoted by Athletic UK, cholecystitis is the inflammation of the gall bladder. Cholecystectomy surgery is often recommended to prevent recurrence and complications.

The time scale for full recovery is put at eight weeks depending on the progress after surgery, meaning Conte could be unavailable on the sidelines for the Champions League chasing Spurs until around April.

Reactions from football world

The 53-year-old former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan manager received many messages of goodwill from football organisations, leagues, clubs and former players.

@FIFAcom wrote:

"Wishing you speedy recovery, Antonio"

@EmiratesFACup wrote:

"Wishing you all the best, Antonio"

@PremierLeague wrote:

"Wishing you all the best, Antonio!"

@SerieA_EN wrote:

"Get well soon, Mister Conte"

Arsenal and its fans displayed class by flooding the comments section, to wishing their North London rival boss a speedy recovery:

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"Wishing you a speedy recovery, Antonio"

@DaveTheCarGuy wrote:

"Get well soon, with love from this Gunner."

@JamieNewman6 wrote:

"Arsenal fan however get well soon Conte. Wishing you well"

@TILIKI_OS wrote:

"I wish him a speedy recovery"

Conte is not the first manager to step aside due to health concerns this season.

Chelsea's female team coach, Emma Hayes was away for six weeks after undergoing hysterectomy surgery last year, as reported by Metro UK.

Conte aims dig at Kane

Sports Brief also reported on Conte making fun of Harry Kane shortly before taking ill, after the striker matched Jimmy Greaves' all-time goalscoring record for Tottenham.

He told the English striker he needs to win a trophy for either club or country, in order to validate his goals and cement his place as one of the sport's greatest strikers.

The former Norwich player is yet to win a trophy in his career, but has won the Premier League golden boot three times and the World Cup golden boot in 2018.