Argentina icon Diego Maradona’s unpredictable coaching career took several more twists on Monday night when his lawyer rejected an official announcement from Fujairah that they had made a U-turn and rehired his client on a one-year deal.
Maradona, 57, departed from the Wolves on Friday by “mutual agreement” after failing to secure automatic entry to the Arabian Gulf League. A disappointing 1-1 draw with 10-man Khor Fakkan had seen the club drop into the promotion play-offs during the final round of First Division League matches.
The east-coast outfit then announced a dumbfounding reconciliation at 19:30 GST on Monday that meant the ex-Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Napoli legend would take charge of the May 9 and 13 play-off clashes with Hatta, the top-flight’s bottom-placed side, and beyond.
But legal representative Matias Morla swiftly declared this update to be premature.
He tweeted: “In front of different versions that are circulating, I want to clarify that to this day, Diego Maradona did not renew his contract with the club Fujairah.”
Maradona’s UAE-based representatives confirmed to Sport360° that “up and down” talks were under way. They had no knowledge about a total agreement.
This further contradicted the earlier tweet sent by Fujairah.
It read: “Under the direction of the president of Fujairah, Diego Maradona returns to lead the Wolves in the play-offs and renews the contract for another year.”
Fujairah have lined up their former coach Ivan Hasek as an alternative option. This process follows a failure to poach Paulo Comelli from Dibba Al Fujairah.
Maradona had joined the ambitious Wolves on a one-year deal last May. News of his premature exit reverberated across the globe at the weekend.
At the Fujairah Stadium outfit, the joint FIFA Player of the Century avoided defeat throughout the regular 2017/18 campaign. In April, a creditable 4-2 loss had also been registered in the President’s Cup quarter-finals against runaway AGL champions Al Ain.
But his profligate charges was hamstrung by 11 second-division draws. The latest looked to have proved fatal as it saw Fujairah demoted to third on the final day at the expense of Ittihad Kalba, who joined champions Bani Yas back in the top flight.
Maradona’s previous posting was unceremoniously cut short by Al Wasl in July 2012, halfway through a two-year deal.
