Maradona claims Argentina cheated

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona admitted his side took banned drugs before a World Cup qualifier against Australia in 1993.

After a 1-1 draw in Sydney, Argentina headed into the home leg in Buenos Aires with a vital away goal, before a 1-0 second-leg win booked their spot in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.

Maradona was sent home from the actual tournament for testing positive to drugs.

He claimed that the Argentina squad were slipped a drug to improve their performance before the qualifier in Buenos Aires, also accusing FIFA vice-president and the head of Argentina’s Football Association, Julio Grondona, about being aware of the doping.

The long-running feud between Maradona and Grondona began when the legend’s contract as Argentina’s national team manager was not renewed after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with Grondona re-igniting the spite when he made references to his rival’s battle with drugs last week.

“What happened is that to play against Australia we were given a speedy coffee. They put something in the coffee and that’s why we ran more,” Maradona told Argentine televison program The Football Show.

“Why weren’t there any anti-doping controls in the match with Australia if we had them in all the other games? They give you 10 anti-doping controls and only the match that decides whether Argentina will go to the United States or not, there is no anti-doping control. That’s the cheat and Grondona knew about it.”

“We took whatever the doctor gave us. To go to the World Cup, we’d have taken even orange juice.”

“I’m saying it now because Grondona talks about drugs as if he didn’t know anything about drugs in football and the sickness I suffered.”

Grondona made no comment after hearing the claims.