Diego Maradona, left, and Julio Grondona, the head of the Argentine Football Association, during a news conference at the Argentine Football Association in Buenos Aires. -AP Photo

BUENOS AIRES: Diego Maradona says Argentina players took banned drugs before a qualifying match for the 1994 World Cup. 

He accuses FIFA vice president Julio Grondona, the head of Argentina's Football Association, of being in on the scheme. 

Maradona says there were no drug controls for the 1993 qualifier against Australia in Buenos Aires. He claims the team doctor put a banned stimulant in their coffee. 

Argentina won 1-0 and advanced to the tournament in the United States, where Maradona was later expelled for a positive drug test and team lost in the quarterfinals.

Maradona said on Monday on television that Grondona had to know all about it. Grondona had no immediate comment.