Diego Maradona to hold talks over becoming new coach of Venezuela

Diego Maradona says he could become the new coach of Venezuela. Photograph: Victor R. Caivano/AP

Diego Maradona has said he could be the next coach of Venezuela, the only South American country never to have appeared at the World Cup finals.
César Farías resigned in November last year after the Venezuelan team missed out on a place in Brazil. While the country’s FA has not made any announcements about a replacement, rumours have linked several local coaches to the job.
Maradona, whose politics make him a natural ally of the country’s socialist government, said he planned to visit president Nicolás Maduro after the World Cup.
He told regional television network Telesur: “I look for serious projects … and think that yes, if it’s with security, then maybe. We plan to talk a bit about everything, including the team.”
Last week Maduro spoke out about the Luis Suárez row, saying he agreed with Maradona that the Uruguayan had been unfairly punished for his bite.
“They can’t forgive Uruguay that a son of the people has eliminated two of football’s big nations, so they invented a whole case,” said Maduro. “It’s very painful this disproportionate punishment that Fifa has taken against Luis Suárez, a great striker who belongs to all of us in South America.
“No one denies some corrective measures were needed, but to suspend him for four months from football where he shines? To take him out of the World Cup? Latin America views this with outrage and we reject it totally.