FIFA says no word from Maradona over threat to quit

Football’s governing body FIFA said on Monday it had heard nothing official from Diego Maradona since the Argentine World Cup winner threatened last week to quit his ambassadorial role.

FIFA said its last official contact with Maradona had been when he took part in a draw for the under-20 World Cup in South Korea on March 15.

“There have been no updates from him since then,” said a FIFA spokesman.

Maradona had said last Wednesday that he was angry over the decision of Argentina Football Association (AFA) to appoint television presenter Marcelo Tinelli as head of its national teams committee.

Maradona told FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a telephone call that he would step down if the decision was not reversed within two days, according to reports.

The AFA is currently under FIFA intervention which, Maradona said, gave the football governing body the power to reverse the appointment.

Last June, FIFA responded to a financial and governance crisis in the AFA by stepping in and putting it under the administration of a “normalisation committee’’.

The committee’s main role is to prepare the AFA for a presidential election which is due to be held on Wednesday.

Maradona took up his new role in February and said at the time he had fulfilled a lifelong dream.