Home
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
China walks the walk in honoring its green pledge
Wheelchair users in good health at Disney disdain norms
Sunday
- Subscribe
Defiant Maradona offers no apology
Source: Agencies |
October 24, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DIEGO Maradona won't apologize for a profanity-filled tirade on live TV, which is being investigated by FIFA and could land the Argentina coach a five-game suspension and a US$20,000 fine.
Maradona was defiant in a television interview on state-run Canal 7, which came just hours after FIFA said it had opened a disciplinary investigation into his conduct last week following Argentina's 1-0 victory at Uruguay, which advanced the struggling team to next year's World Cup.
The embattled Argentina coach said he planned to take the team to South Africa and had no plans to resign. He said the remarks were aimed at critics and journalists who were "anti-Argentine."
"It was getting it off my chest, and I don't regret it," Maradona said in the interview. "I gave my mother a kiss on the forehead and told her: 'If I was wrong I ask your forgiveness, but nobody else.'
"It had been building up," he added.
Profanities
Maradona said after the match that his use of profanities did not merit an apology, and he reiterated that again.
"I apologize to the ladies, but not to those who talk about football on television," Maradona said. "What I said was also late -- outside family viewing hours."
FIFA's disciplinary code says a suspension and fine should apply to any football figure who "lowers himself through acts or words, to discriminate or insult a person or group of persons ... in a way that undermines human dignity."
Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona, who hired Maradona and is also a FIFA vice president, dismissed the remarks as a momentary outburst.
Maradona also denied rumors that he is using drugs again. As a player, he was kicked out of the 1994 World Cup in the United States after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Five years ago, he suffered a heart attack attributed to a cocaine overdose. Maradona says he's been clean ever since.
"I'm not going to put up with those who say I'm taking again, because -- thank God -- I've been clean for five years and I'm not going out clubbing at night," he said.
Maradona was defiant in a television interview on state-run Canal 7, which came just hours after FIFA said it had opened a disciplinary investigation into his conduct last week following Argentina's 1-0 victory at Uruguay, which advanced the struggling team to next year's World Cup.
The embattled Argentina coach said he planned to take the team to South Africa and had no plans to resign. He said the remarks were aimed at critics and journalists who were "anti-Argentine."
"It was getting it off my chest, and I don't regret it," Maradona said in the interview. "I gave my mother a kiss on the forehead and told her: 'If I was wrong I ask your forgiveness, but nobody else.'
"It had been building up," he added.
Profanities
Maradona said after the match that his use of profanities did not merit an apology, and he reiterated that again.
"I apologize to the ladies, but not to those who talk about football on television," Maradona said. "What I said was also late -- outside family viewing hours."
FIFA's disciplinary code says a suspension and fine should apply to any football figure who "lowers himself through acts or words, to discriminate or insult a person or group of persons ... in a way that undermines human dignity."
Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona, who hired Maradona and is also a FIFA vice president, dismissed the remarks as a momentary outburst.
Maradona also denied rumors that he is using drugs again. As a player, he was kicked out of the 1994 World Cup in the United States after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Five years ago, he suffered a heart attack attributed to a cocaine overdose. Maradona says he's been clean ever since.
"I'm not going to put up with those who say I'm taking again, because -- thank God -- I've been clean for five years and I'm not going out clubbing at night," he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
