I am not resigning, declares Maradona
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 15, 2008 00:00
BUENOS ARIES- Diego Maradona will remain Argentina coach after denying speculation on late Thursday that he planned to resign because of a dispute over his assistants with his boss.
"I'm still the coach. There's been no changes, no resignations, nothing," Maradona told journalists in Mar del Plata, where he was visiting the Argentina tennis team preparing for next week's Davis Cup final against Spain. "Things are the same as they always were."
Officially appointed coach only last week, Maradona, reportedly said he would quit before or after his first match in charge next Wednesday, a friendly at Scotland, as he was furious at Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona for now allowing him to freely appoint the remaining members of his coaching staff.
Team manager Carlos Bilardo had assured reporters on Wednesday that the football great would remain coach, but he acknowledged there was tension between Maradona and Grondona over the coach's appointment of Oscar Ruggeri as his assistant.
"The president of the federation is in charge and the head of the coaching staff is Maradona," Bilardo said. "Maradona has to choose the coaching staff. These things are always discussed to try and reach an agreement."
Maradona made no mention of the disagreement on Thursday.
Former teammate
Ruggeri was Maradona's teammate when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup but Grondona has publicly expressed his disagreement with Ruggeri as Maradona's assistant, saying he prefers Sergio Batista and Jose Luis Brown - the coach and assistant of Argentina's Youth side.
Batista and Brown were initially named as the assistants by Grondona, but Maradona said when he was confirmed as coach that he would pick his own staff. Alejandro Mancuso and Miguel Angel Lemme were confirmed later as assistants for the friendly against Scotland.
Argentina's next match will be in February against France, followed by a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela in March.
Officially appointed coach only last week, Maradona, reportedly said he would quit before or after his first match in charge next Wednesday, a friendly at Scotland, as he was furious at Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona for now allowing him to freely appoint the remaining members of his coaching staff.
Team manager Carlos Bilardo had assured reporters on Wednesday that the football great would remain coach, but he acknowledged there was tension between Maradona and Grondona over the coach's appointment of Oscar Ruggeri as his assistant.
"The president of the federation is in charge and the head of the coaching staff is Maradona," Bilardo said. "Maradona has to choose the coaching staff. These things are always discussed to try and reach an agreement."
Maradona made no mention of the disagreement on Thursday.
Former teammate
Ruggeri was Maradona's teammate when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup but Grondona has publicly expressed his disagreement with Ruggeri as Maradona's assistant, saying he prefers Sergio Batista and Jose Luis Brown - the coach and assistant of Argentina's Youth side.
Batista and Brown were initially named as the assistants by Grondona, but Maradona said when he was confirmed as coach that he would pick his own staff. Alejandro Mancuso and Miguel Angel Lemme were confirmed later as assistants for the friendly against Scotland.
Argentina's next match will be in February against France, followed by a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela in March.