Football: Maradona must stay in Argentina

DIEGO MARADONA, in hiding after firing at reporters with an air-rifle following his sacking by Newell's Old Boys, has been barred from leaving Argentina until the courts rule on charges against him filed by the victims.

'He cannot leave the country,' Judge Francisco Lilo, in charge of the case, said yesterday. 'He must settle his judicial situation first.'

The Argentinian captain and his family fled their country home outside Buenos Aires under cover of darkness early on Thursday, escaping a press siege after the shooting. His lawyers would not say where he was, but assured reporters that he would appear for questioning.