Buenos Aires: Former Argentina coach and World Cup-winning skipper Diego Maradona has revealed he will not return to coaching in his homeland owing to frustration at the way club owners deal with hiring and firing.
"Since that horrible business when they got rid of (Matias) Almeyda on the Wednesday and brought in Ramon Diaz on the Sunday I don't want to work in Argentine football," said Maradona in allusion to River Plate's latest spin of the managerial merry-go-round at the end of last year.
"I think it's disgusting that there is such a lack of respect for someone such as Almeyda., a gentleman who would never disrespect anybody. I don't want to go back to that," said Maradona.
Maradona, currently working as an honorary ambassador of sports in Dubai following his recent sacking by Al-Wasl, was speaking late Tuesday to Argentine reporters in the United Arab Emirates.
He had earlier met with Argentina President Cristina Kirchner, who was visiting the region on her way to a tour of Asia.
Maradona has recently been touted as a possible coach of the Iraqi national side and insisted that "the contract I have with the people in Dubai does not preclude my working as a coach. They give me complete freedom."
Story first published on: Wednesday, 16 January 2013 20:04