Video shows more crude behavior from Maradona

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- A video showing Diego Maradona making crude gestures on the team bus after his profanity-filled tirade on live television could complicate Argentina officials' efforts to put the scandal behind them.

The video shows Maradona gesturing gleefully at photographers and cameramen through the window as the team bus pulled away after the game, and is rapidly spreading on the Internet.

Maradona already faces a possible five-game suspension and 20,000 Swiss franc ($19,700) fine if the FIFA disciplinary committee decides to sanction him for the comments he made to reporters after Argentina's 1-0 victory over Uruguay qualified the team for the World Cup.

Maradona's repeated crude expletives, directed at his media critics in an official setting, prompted FIFA president Sepp Blatter to announce in Cairo that the association has "no other alternative but to ask the disciplinary committee of FIFA to open a case against the coach Diego Armando Maradona."

Maradona called it an outburst and said he had nothing to apologize for. And he quickly received support from Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona, who also dismissed it as a momentary outburst and told The Associated Press on Friday that "if it were another coach or player, the matter would not have had such importance."

FIFA's disciplinary code says the suspension and fine should apply to any football figure who "lowers himself through acts or words, to discriminate or insult a person or group of persons ... in a way that undermines human dignity."

Maradona, who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title and the 1990 final, was under intense pressure during Argentina's stuttering qualifying campaign. Argentina lost 6-1 in Bolivia and 3-1 to Brazil at home, finishing fourth among South American teams.

Grondona said the Argentine federation would meet Tuesday over the matter. He declined to say whether he agreed with FIFA's decision to open a disciplinary case.

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