Argentina Coach Diego Maradona faces a FIFA disciplinary hearing on Sunday as a result of his furious outburst after last month's victory over Uruguay.
The 1-0 win ensured Argentina qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Maradona, under pressure in the run-up to the match, directed an expletive-laden tirade, broadcast on live TV, at reporters and critics after the game. FIFA could hit him with a stadium ban, which would run into the World Cup, when they meet in Zurich on Sunday.
"The Fifa Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Marcel Mathier, will grant the head coach of Argentina a hearing, which will take place the day after the international friendly match between Spain and Argentina in Madrid," said a Fifa statement.
Following Maradona's outburst, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said there was "no alternative" but to ask Fifa's disciplinary committee to open a case.
However, the head of the Argentine Football Federation, Julio Grondona, claimed: "If it were another coach or player, the matter would not have had such importance. Everybody knows he's a temperamental person and he's already said he won't speak like that again."
Maradona has refused to apologise to the press for his actions in interviews on Argentine radio and television.
FIFA is investigating whether Maradona's comments breach Article 58 of the organisation's disciplinary code. The relevant passage reads: "Anyone who offends the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning race, colour, language, religion or origin shall be suspended for at least five matches.
Maradona is a football icon in Argentina following his success as a player, but his time as the national team's coach has been hugely controversial, with Argentina having struggled to reach the 2010 finals in South Africa.As a player, he produced a series of stellar displays to guide them to victory in the 1986 World Cup and then helped them reach the final, which they lost to Germany, four years later.But his time as coach has included a 6-1 defeat in Bolivia and a 3-1 home loss to Brazil.Going into the final two qualifying matches, a poll showed that the majority of Argentina fans thought Maradona was unfit to coach the national team.But Argentina won both games to book their ticket to South Africa
