Maradona to face Fifa hearing

Published on Tuesday 10 November 2009 21:22

ARGENTINA coach Diego Maradona will appear before a Fifa disciplinary committee on Sunday over his foul-mouthed outburst last month.

Maradona could be sidelined from matches in next year's World Cup if Fifa decide to hand him a stadium ban for his rant at the end of the 1-0 win in Uruguay that guaranteed his team a place at the finals in South Africa.

The volatile Argentina coach, who was kicked out of the 1994 World Cup as a player for a doping offence, will travel to Fifa's headquarters in Zurich for the hearing after his team's friendly in Spain on Saturday. "The disciplinary hearing related to the head coach of Argentina, Diego Armando Maradona, and the incidents following the 2010 Fifa World Cup qualifying match between Uruguay and Argentina on 14 October 2009 will be held at the home of Fifa in Zurich on Sunday, 15 November," Fifa said in a statement.

Maradona rounded on his critics immediately after the final whistle of the match in Montevideo.

He launched into an expletive-filled rant when interviewed on the touchline and produced another outburst in the post-match media conference broadcast live on several television networks. Fifa president Sepp Blatter announced two days later in Cairo that disciplinary proceedings would be opened against Maradona.

The 1986 World Cup winner had been heavily criticised for Argentina's defeats by Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay that took the twice world champions to the brink of failing to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1970.

The Argentina Football Federation (AFA] has also already sent a report to Fifa, saying: "Maradona was acting in a state of violent emotion over arguments with journalists in the days before the match."