Diego Maradona
World Soccer|October 2018

Seeking a rebirth in Mexicos second tier

John Holmesdale
Diego Maradona

A second-tier club based in Sinaloa, home to one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, may not be the most obvious place for Diego Maradona to relaunch his coaching career. But the 57-year-old Argentinian insists he can bring success to Dorados de Sinaloa while restoring his own tarnished reputation at the same time.

Dorados play in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state in north-west Mexico that is home to the Sinaloa Cartel, who are described by American intelligence as “Mexico’s most powerful organised crime group”.

During his playing career, Maradona was dogged by allegations of cocaine addiction and links to the mafia, notably in Italy when he was with Napoli.

“I made a lot of mistakes in my life,” Maradona admitted at his first press conference in Mexico. “I want to give Dorados what I lost when I was sick.

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