DIEGO MARADONA has U-turned on his decision to quit as manager of top-flight Argentinian side Gimnasia after a crazy 48 hours.
He confirmed on Tuesday he was going after just two months in the job.
World Cup winner Diego Maradona is expected to be in charge for Gimnasia’s clash against Arsenal de Sarandi on SundayCredit: EPA
But today his lawyer Matias Morla said he would be in charge for Gimnasia’s match on Sunday as it appeared he had been persuaded to stay.
A planned march by club fans on his home in an attempt to get him to change his mind about leaving was cancelled as they refocused their energy instead on celebrating his U-turn.
Local reports said the 59-year-old’s change of heart was the result of a decision not to hold elections this weekend which club president and Maradona ally Gabriel Pellegrino had said he would not stand in.
The reaction of the fans has also been identified as another factor behind the football legend’s U-turn.
Gimnasia has yet to make an official announcement on Maradona’s future, but several leading Argentinian papers are reporting it is only a matter of hours before one is forthcoming.
Earlier today it emerged Gimnasia fans were organising a mass march on Diego’s home near Buenos Aires to try to get him to reconsider Tuesday’s quit decision.
Eight minibuses had been reserved for the occasion so supporters could be taken to Los Fresnos, a private estate in Bella Vista near the upmarket Buenos Aires Golf Club.
Other fans were expected to make the trip from La Plata, the city an hour and a half’s drive away where Gimnasia is based, in their own vehicles.
Gimnasia currently sit 22nd in the Argentinian top-flight after 13 games playedCredit: Getty – Contributor
The hashtag #DiegoVaAVolver – English for Diego is going to return – went viral in Argentina.
Supporters banging drums and chanting Maradona’s name made their presence felt outside Esgrima’s stadium yesterday in a bid to get him to reconsider his departure.
One took to Twitter this morning to say: “5pm local time we’ll be leaving in convoy for Diego’s house.Eight minibuses are already full. Join us today to make history.#DiegoVaAVolver.”
Fan Pablo Antonini added: “This can’t finish when it’s just begun. Maradona and Gimnasia love each other, they need each other and they go well together.
“Maradona at Gimnasia is poetic justice. The only struggle you lose is the one you abandon.”
Maradona was presented as manager of Gimnasia on September 8.
The team have enjoyed three away victories and five defeats under Maradona’s guidance so far.
Speculation earlier this week when he was thought to be a part of the club’s history linked Maradona to a return to Mexican side Dorados de Sinaloa.
Mexican newspaper El Universal said Sinaloa president Antonio Nunez had contacted him to sound him out about a second spell at the club.
The former Naples and Barcelona’s time at the club in the northern Mexican city of Culiacan, the heart of the Sinaloa cartel, forms the basis for a new Netflix document-series.
Gimnasia are currently 22nd place in the Superliga.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
