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Macri Says He Rejected Maradona for Boca Coach Over Addictions and Renews Attack on Riquelme

In a new interview, the former Boca chief casts his 1998 pick of Carlos Bianchi as an institutional decision to argue the club has strayed under Juan Román Riquelme.

Overview

  • In remarks recounting 1998, Mauricio Macri said he denied Diego Maradona the Boca coaching job because addictions left him unfit and unreliable to lead.
  • He cited frequent absences from training and the 1996 sequence of five missed penalties, saying Maradona could not guarantee where he would wake up.
  • Macri described their 1990s relationship as a very traumatic coexistence and recalled Maradona telling him he felt "between God and men."
  • He defended appointing Carlos Bianchi as a rules-first choice and asserted Boca would not have captured later trophies if Maradona had been coach then.
  • Turning to present-day Boca, Macri accused Juan Román Riquelme of personalist control, argued top coaches steer clear for that reason, noted the team has taken eight of the last 18 points, and referenced his own failed bid to return to the club’s leadership.