Maradona given two-month ban
November 16, 2009
Argentina coach Diego Maradona has been banned from football for two months and fined by FIFA as punishment for his recent outburst following Argentina's qualification for the World Cup finals.
The ban extends to any "football-related activity" and is effective immediately, meaning the Argentina manager is suspended from November 15 to January 15.
"The committee reached this decision following a three-hour meeting at the Home of FIFA in Zurich,'' a statement from FIFA read. "The head coach of Argentina was heard by the committee during 40 minutes and apologised to FIFA and the world football family.
"The committee took into consideration the apologies and the sincere remorse shown by Maradona in its decision, which was communicated to him at the end of the meeting. The sanction, which was taken on the basis of article 57 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, applies from 15 November 2009 to 15 January 2010.
"The committee stressed that any breach of this decision or any repetition of a similar incident would mean that stronger sanctions would have to be imposed in the future.''
The ban means Maradona will not be able to manage his side when Argentina face Czech Republic in a friendly on December 12 although he will return for their following fixture - a friendly against Germany on March 3.
Maradona was also fined £14,800 at Sunday's hearing in Zurich despite making an apology for his behaviour.
Following a 1-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo that confirmed Argentina's place at the World Cup finals, Maradona lambasted his critics in the press, using profane language to denigrate journalists who had criticised his team's poor performance during qualifying.
Chelsea are now 5 points clear at the top of the Premiership after their 1-0 win over Man United. See all the latest BestPrice outright betting here.
Newsletter
Sign up:
