Grondona, the man who never spoke English, dies at 82

Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), has died at the age of 82.

He was reportedly taken to hospital on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest.

His death was announced by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).

Grondona, who was known as ‘The Godfather’, had been AFA president since 1979.

During his tenure in charge of the AFA, Argentina reached three World Cup finals, winning the first of those in 1986 before West Germany gained revenge to lift the trophy four years later.

In Brazil, they reached the final only to be beaten by Mario Gotze’s extra-time for Germany.

‘’I speak only Spanish’’

Grondona became one of world football’s most powerful figures in the game despite not speaking the game’s number-one language – English.

“I speak only Spanish,” he said in an interview. “But I have an advantage over the rest of the polyglots. I speak the language of football very well.”

His long career in football had also seen him serve as FIFA’s senior vice president and as a member of the world governing body’s executive committee.

He was also a FIFA senior vice president and head of FIFA’s finance committee. He had announced that we would step down from his posts in 2015.

Grondona rose from modest roots. He helped found Argentine club Arsenal de Sardani and was a director from 1957 until he left in 1976 to take over the presidency of Club Independiente. He stayed there until he assumed the reins of AFA three years later.

Mr. Controversy

Grondona was never far from controversy. Critics blamed him for the endemic fan violence in Argentine football, where every club match faces the threat of violence by hooligan groups. Grondona said the problem simply reflected the growing violence on the streets of the country.

He never saw eye-to-eye with Diego Maradona, who blamed Grondona for many of the festering problems of the game in Argentina.

Grondona hired Maradona as the national team coach and then dismissed him after Argentina lost in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup.

During the 2014 tournament, Maradona responded to being called a “bad luck charm” by Grondona by showing him the middle finger on live TV.

Recently, his son, Humberto, was questioned by FIFA during the World Cup in Brazil, amid media reports that he had sold some tickets for profit. FIFA said later that he “most probably” gave tickets to a friend and did not sell them.

Tributes

“[I’m] very sad for the loss of a great friend. Julio Grondona left us at the age of 82. Today, embrace his family. He rests in peace” – FIFA president, Sepp Blatter.

“It’s a very sad day for football, for all of Argentina and for me. Our president, Julio Grondona, you have left us. I want to send my sincere condolences and a large hug to all his family members and friends” – Lionel Messi.