For his behavior that I discussed here and here, Diego Maradona has been punished and I believe it's largely appropriate:
Argentina manager Diego Maradona has been banned from football for two months and fined by FIFA as punishment for his rant at journalists following Argentina's qualification for the World Cup finals.
The ban, announced by a FIFA disciplinary committee after a hearing with Maradona, 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.''
Count on that happening. Self-control is not in Maradona's vocabulary.
Comments