Argentine football legend Diego Maradona publicly attacked Argentina Football Association (AFA) president Julio Grondona on Tuesday, accusing him of behaving like a mob boss and being impossible to dislodge from power.
The outburst came as players from Argentina's top four divisions warned they would refuse to take the field this weekend unless security conditions at matches improved. The AFA had already banned visiting fans from first-division stadiums for the remainder of the year in response to a surge of crowd violence.
The players' association FAA demanded the AFA guarantee player safety and reinstate away supporters for upcoming fixtures. Secretary general Sergio Marchi said the players would sit out the weekend's games if those conditions were not met.
Grondona responded Monday evening by saying he wanted to find a solution and that no one wished to see matches canceled.
Violence has disrupted Argentine league play for months. On Sunday, supporters of Racing Club and San Lorenzo blocked their respective team buses, forcing a postponement. Fans were already angry over an AFA order relocating a Buenos Aires derby to La Plata, 60 kilometers away, without spectators.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.