Diego Maradona has hit out at the Argentine Football Association after the nation's early exit from the Olympic Games, telling Radio La Red, "Argentina run the risk of missing the next two World Cups."
Argentina exited the Olympic football tournament at the group stage on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw with Honduras in Brasilia.
The senior national team has come close to success in each of the past three years, reaching the finals of the 2014 World Cup, 2015 Copa America and this summer's Copa America Centenario, but a crisis at the AFA -- as well as the prospect of Lionel Messi and other key stars retiring -- has left Maradona with serious concerns.
"The directors were in Miami sunbathing, and they don't care about Argentine football," said Maradona, who won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina.
"Honduras can't beat us. [It is] a country for which I have a lot of respect, but they play baseball. They don't know anything about football."
Argentina, now coached by Edgardo Bauza after Gerardo Martino's resignation, are third in their 2018 World Cup qualification group.
The federation, led by Julio Grondona since the 1970s, has been in turmoil since the late FIFA senior vice president died in 2014.
In June, FIFA stepped in and named a committee to run the federation's daily affairs with a mandate that elections must be held by July 2017.
Maradona claimed that the current chaos within the Argentina federation was institutional and that Barcelona star Lionel Messi was right to call out the federation during the Copa America Centenario.
"Let's get to work. What Messi was talking about has gone on forever," he said. "How is it possible that the families of the coaching staff get better accommodations than the players?"
Maradona said he had his doubts about whether Argentina would be able to pull a team together in time for World Cup qualifying in September. Argentina face Uruguay on Sept. 1 and Venezuela five days later.
"I wish Paton [Bauza] the best of luck, but we are taking a risk with this," he said. "It [qualifying] is going to be complicated."
Finally, he blasted the new federation administration, saying that Argentina has passed from the leadership of Grondona, which he called the "mafia of Grondona," to the current situation, which he called a "mafia of Macri" in reference to the country's current president, Mauricio Macri. Macri was a former president at Boca Juniors.
He said he would seek out current FIFA president Gianni Infantino to address what he sees as institutional problems.
"I don't like it, and I plan to do something about it," he said.