Football: Maradona deal was not costly - Dinamo Brest owner

FC Dinamo Brest owner Aliaksandr Zaitsau has finally come out public in a big interview with tut.by portal. He says he was born in the Brest region and served as “an unnoticed clerk in the Council of Ministers” before becoming a businessman after the government service. Zaitsau also commented on numerous speculations in the media about “some Arab sheiks” controlling the Brest football club. “Possibly, the reason is that I have been an UAE resident for the past ten years. I have several companies registered there,” he said. According to Zaitsau, Dinamo Brest’s budget in 2018 is nearly $5 million.

When asked about how much he spent to bring in Diego Maradona, the Dinamo Brest owner said: “It is confidential information but believe me it was not expensive. Our plan was not to spend on him but to earn together with him. While he is in Mexico at the moment, we have set up a legal entity in the UAE, which clearly defines his share of profits he is entitled to. We are in the talks now to attract some sponsors under Diego’s name. For example, we are talking about adverts for one of cryptocurrencies in China – quite a big contract.”

Zaitsau admitted that his club had had no intention to appoint Maradona as the head coach because they saw the videos of his trainings. “This is just a discotheque,” Zitsau said, adding that Diego wanted to coach but was offered the post of the Board Chairman instead.

“Due to Diego’s unpredictable character, we do not know when our cooperation continues and how it ends. It is unlikely he will be willing to come to Belarus in winter but later everything is possible,” Aliaksandr Zaitsau said.

Diego Maradona got a job at Dinamo Brest last May. In July, he visited Brest but later returned to Argentina. He promised to come back but instead he found a job in Mexico.