Maradona says 93 Argentina squad took drugs in their coffee

Hearing that Maradona took drugs won't shock anyone. But hearing that FIFA vice president and Argentine Football Association head Julio Grondona knew about systematic doping among his national team? Well, that probably won't surprise anyone either.

In an interview on Monday, Maradona made accusations against the man who dismissed him from his post as Argentina's manager after last summer's World Cup. Prompted by Grondona's recent references to Maradona's struggles with drug addiction, the football legend revealed Grondona's hypocrisy and the measures taken to ensure Argentina qualified for the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. -- from which Maradona was sent home early after failing a drug test.

From the AP:

"Why weren't there any anti-doping controls in the match with Australia if we had them in all the other games?" Maradona asked during an interview on The Football Show. "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.

"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." [...]

"We took whatever the doctor gave us," Maradona said. "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."

!

I' ;m assuming Maradona means there was something other than caffeine in this "speedy coffee." I don't know what he has against orange juice, though. Did someone tell him that cocaine has vitamins in it and orange juice is like crack at some point? Because that would explain a lot.

Photo: Getty Images