Buenos Aires, July 27 (bdnews24.com) - Diego Maradona's meeting with the Argentine Football Association on Monday appears to have has spelt the end of his reign as coach of Argentina.
Maradona put forward the conditions under which he would stay on to president Julio Grondona during the meeting, and it now looks likely there will be no renewal for the iconic coach, according to goal.com.
It was made clear during the meeting that if any of Maradona's staff were removed from the set-up, Diego would step aside; Grondona did not respond favourably to this idea, claim South American sources.
The AFA reportedly intend to disband the staff roster and Maradona not only rejected the idea, he also wanted to augment the group further by adding Oscar Ruggeri.
Grondona has made no official comment as yet but Argentine newspaper Ole has confirmed the end of an era.
A further meeting held by Grondona with the AFA executive committee will shed some light on the situation, however unless something unexpected develops during the meeting, Maradona's terms will not be met.
Goal.com Latin America conducted a survey among readers, asking: "Who should be the coach of Argentina?" after the Albiceleste's elimination at the hands of Germany in the World Cup 2010 quarter-final.
The result posted a unanimous winner: Carlos Bianchi with 35.71 per cent of the votes, ahead of Maradona on 17.86 per cent.
Other potential candidates include Marcelo Bielsa, Gerardo Martino, Claudio Borghi and Angel Cappa.
However, it looks likely that Sergio Batista, currently in charge of the Argentine Under-20 team, will take charge of the national squad for August's friendly against Ireland in Dublin.
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