Venezuela federation not eyeing Maradona as coach

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's Soccer Federation has not considered hiring Argentine Diego Maradona as coach of its squad, the organisation said on Wednesday, shooting down rumours and suggestions by Maradona himself that he could be in line for the job.

The federation has not yet replaced Cesar Farias, who quit in November after the team missed out on the finals in Brazil.

"There has not been a proposal to hire the famous ex athlete and coach Diego Armando Maradona, despite insistence in recent hours by different media and social networks," the group wrote in a statement, citing its President Rafael Esquivel.

"The country will know the name of the new coach once the board of directors ... makes the decision, which will be after the World Cup has concluded."

Maradona had told regional television network Telesur late on Tuesday he could become the coach of Venezuela, the only South American country that has never made it to the World Cup.

Maradona, a close friend of Venezuela's former President Hugo Chavez, said he plans to visit President Nicolas Maduro after the World Cup.

(Reporting by Eyanir Chinea and Brian Ellsworth; editing by Justin Palmer/Greg Stutchbury)