(Bloomberg) -- Diego Maradona’s tenure as Argentina coach ended yesterday when the country’s soccer association decided against renewing his contract because he wasn’t prepared to accept changes to his staff. The Argentine Football Association’s executive committee “unanimously resolved” not to renew the deal after AFA President Julio Grondona relayed details of his meeting with Maradona a day earlier, the governing body said in a statement.
Differences between Maradona and Grondona “were impossible to resolve,” association spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo told reporters in Buenos Aires. Maradona, 49, said on Argentine television this week that he wouldn’t continue in the post he took in late 2008 if the association insisted on him changing his coaching staff.
Maradona was asked “to make some changes to his coaching staff and he didn’t want to,” Rafael Savino, a member of the association’s executive committee, told reporters yesterday. Maradona’s staff included two doctors, two assistant coaches, two physical trainers, a press officer and a kitman.
Maradona, who led his country to its last World Cup title in 1986 and the final four years later, took over the national team in November 2008. He used more than 100 players, winning 18 and losing six of his 24 international games in charge.
Argentina lost six matches in 2009, the first time since 1919 that it had so many defeats in a calendar year. Maradona didn’t oversee that year’s loss to Catalonia because he was banned for a profanity-laced tirade toward journalists following a World Cup qualifying game.
Quarterfinal Exit
In South Africa last month, Maradona’s team exited at the quarterfinal stage in a 4-0 defeat to Germany. It was Argentina’s biggest World Cup loss in 36 years.
Argentina finished in fifth position at the tournament, according to soccer governing body FIFA, its best result since losing in the 1990 final.
Sergio Batista, the coach of Argentina’s under-20 team will lead the senior squad in its next match, an Aug. 11 exhibition against Ireland. Batista played alongside Maradona at the 1986 World Cup and coached Argentina to the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Argentina is scheduled to host next year’s Copa America as it seeks a first major trophy at senior level since 1993.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Buenos Air
Source: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aen_tE2LxjMI
