Napoli betrayed me, says peeved Maradona

Rome - Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona on Friday lambasted directors of his former club Napoli, ending speculation that he would be given an ambassadorial role for the Italian first division outfit.

Maradona in particular targeted Napoli director Corrado Ferlaino whom he blamed for the collapse of negotiations after he met club president Giorgio Corbelli at a top Rome hotel.

"I gave him another chance," said Maradona in reference to Ferlaino. "But once again he betrayed me. I am sorry but I can't work at Napoli alongside such a person."

Maradona's emotional press conference completed a turbulent 24 hours since he arrived in Italy.

He was served with a writ for tax fraud of up to $24,6-million as he walked through Rome's Fiumicino airport on Thursday.

And on Friday, 40-year-old Maradona, who won two Italian Scudetti (titles) with Napoli and led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup, admitted his morale had hit rock bottom after calling his family in Argentina to reassure them.

A sometimes rambling Maradona said: "After what my daughter said to me (on the phone) I wanted to die.

"I had to phone Argentina to reassure them I had not been shot. I have broad shoulders but it gets worse every time."

The player insisted however that the tax police who had greeted him at Fiumicino had been "very nice".

Referring to his tax problems he said: "I do not understand why. I was in Italy for the Fifa (World Player of the Century) prize (in December) and nothing happened."

There had been no indication earlier that Maradona would fall out with the club whose fans - some of the most passionate in Italy - still revere him.

There had been speculation that a collaboration between the Argentinian and his former team was in the offing, but Maradona's emotional outburst ended any such talk.

The former player had said Thursday that Napoli - and Ferlaino in particular - should pick up the tab for his alleged tax deficit even though there has been no suggestion that the club or Ferlaino is implicated in the case.

"The problems with the tax authorities do not concern me but Napoli and (club director) Corrado Ferlaino," Maradona said.

"In my contract it was written in big letters that Napoli had to pay my bill. Let them go and collect (the money) from Ferlaino because he was in charge of the club when I was filling the stadium with 100 000 people."

The Latin American then went to spend the evening with Italy's favourite gameshow host Raffaella Carra - who had an international hit in her youth with Do It Again (With Love)".

Corbelli had said upon arriving at the Hilton Hotel: "I am not coming with any job offer. I just want us to get to know each other and clarify finally everything that has been said recently." - Sapa-AFP