Maradona leaves post as Gimnasia y Esgrima coach

Maradona gestures to supporters as he leaves the field after a Superliga match against Estudiantes. [Courtesy]

Diego Maradona has left his position as coach of Argentine side Gimnasia y Esgrima, bringing a premature end to yet another coaching job for the World Cup winner.

“Maradona is no longer the coach of Gimnasia,” club president Gabriel Pellegrino said on local radio station La Red on Tuesday.

Maradona, who took over at the club in September, had said he would only continue if Pellegrino stayed on as president following club elections.

Pellegrino, however, withdrew from the race when an electoral pact fell apart.

Maradona, who won the World Cup in 1986 and is often referred to as one of the greatest players of all time, took over the club from La Plata, just outside Buenos Aires, charged with helping them avoid relegation.

He lost his first three games in charge and although he has won three of five since then, the team are still third-bottom of the league and in danger of going down.

Maradona’s departure repeats a well-worn theme in his coaching career. Of the six club sides he has managed, only one job lasted more than a year.

The only team he managed for longer was Al Wasl of the United Arab Emirates, where he remained for 14 months in charge in 2011-12.

His previous club job before returning to Argentina was at Mexican club Dorados de Sinalao, where he left in June after nine months in charge.