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Diego Maradona hit out at the Argentine football association (AFA), a day after he was sacked as Argentina's national coach, saying he was betrayed and lied to.
In a disdainful attack, he said that the chief of the Argentine football association (AFA), Julio Grondona, and co-coach Carlos Bilardo lied to him and cheated him.
The AFA announced on Tuesday that Maradona's contract as national coach would not be renewed. The contract was to expire on Saturday.
AFA spokesman Cherquis Bialo announced the coach's departure on Monday after the failure of the talks between Maradona and Grondona.
The AFA could not accept the conditions that Maradona had set before he would sign a contract extension to remain at the helm of the national team through the 2014 World Cup in neighbouring Brazil, Bialo said.
The 49-year-old Maradona coached a team for 21 months, but couldn’t show notable results in the recent matches as Argentina was defeated by Gemany 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup.
Maradona, who read from a prepared sheet on Wednesday, said that Grondona lied to him at the World Cup. After the defeat against Germany, Grondona told him in the changing room in South Africa in front of witnesses, that he would remain coach, Maradona said.
But things changed after the team returned home, Maradona claimed.
Maradona also lashed out at Bilardo, saying that "while we were mourning (our elimination at the World Cup), he worked in the shadows to make sure that I was kicked out."
