Bin Beyat allays Maradona fears

Dubai The chairman of Al Wasl has assured that fresh sponsorship deals with top international and regional brands will fuel the ambitions of the club.

Speculation over the future of high-profile boss Diego Maradona has been rife in footballing circles since the Argentinian gave the club an ultimatum on financial consolidation so that he can sign new players to strengthen his squad.

But chairman Marwan Bin Beyat rubbished talks about the manager threatening to leave. “He did not tell me directly about leaving. We told him to follow the procedure of the club by putting down his demands on paper and send it to the board, who will put it up for discussion and take the necessary action,” he said.

“We asked him to focus on the technical side of the team. We try to keep him happy always.”

Bin Beyat was talking on the sidelines of of a press conference announcing the club’s signing of a deal with watch-maker Hublot Wednesday.

“I am very proud to welcome this strategic partnership with Hublot and we hope to meet the Hublot objectives through this partnership. Our objective for this marketing is to bring money to the club and this money will be used all over the club, not just for the main football team,” the chairman said.

He also revealed that the club had consulted Maradona and “already started planning for the new season”.

“We are already focusing on the new players who will be part of our strategy in helping us realise the objectives of Al Wasl next year,” Bin Beyat said.

Though the team was staying in the same hotel where yesterday’s press conference was held, Maradona failed to attend, pushing Bin Beyat to clarify that the coach “is sitting with the players and discussing match strategy”.

The chairman went a step forward to use the meeting to quell any reported rift between club and coach. “Nothing serious happened between us. He [Maradona] was just concerned about the bonus for players for two or three matches,” he said.

“I explained to him that everything is under control and he has to realise that this sort of planning is a strategic plan designed by the financial people of the club.”