体坛英语新闻：Maradona laments death of Argentina's Grondona

BUENOS AIRES, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Former Argentine football star Diego Maradona Wednesday lamented the death earlier in the day of the president of the Argentine Football Association, Julio Grondona.

"My condolences to Grondona's family," Maradona wrote on his Facebook account, alongside a photo dating from the early 1980s of himself and Grondona sharing a happy moment.

The two men were not always on good terms, especially after Grondona fired Maradona as national team coach following the lineup's lackluster performance at the 2010 South Africa World Cup.

More recently, during the 2014 Brazil World Cup, Grondona referred to the retired football legend as a "mufa", or someone who brings bad luck.

"The mufa left and we won," Grondona said seconds after footballer Lionel Messi scored a goal against Iran on June 21 at Belo Horizonte's Mineirao Stadium, for a 1-0 win in the initial group phase.

Maradona, 53, had been sitting in the same box, but left just minutes before the Barcelona player scored the key goal.

Maradona, who was hosting a TV show on the World Cup at the time, replied by calling Grondona "stupid."

"Somebody said the goal was scored because I left. Poor stupid (man). That was due to 'Lio' Messi, not because I left," the 1986 world champion said on his show.

Grondona, who served as senior vice president of world soccer body FIFA, was involved in numerous scandals and even accused of having ties to the Mafia, according to Wikipedia.

Grondona passed away at the age of 82 in Buenos Aires after heading the AFA for more than three decades.