Diego Maradona will take over a football vice-president at Boca Juniors, club president Mauricio Macri said on Wednesday.

The Argentine soccer great had previously been offered a job as youth team coach and now he accepted an offer to take on the director's role in August, Macri said.

"He will take part, give his opinion, help us run the professional squad," Macri told reporters, adding that Maradona would help in the selection of a new coach.

The 44-year-old Maradona has made a good recovery after undergoing drug rehabilitation last year and a gastric bypass operation in Colombia in March, which helped the former Argentina captain lose 33kg, Maradona's doctor Alfredo Cahe has said.

The Buenos Aires club have been without a coach after sacking Jorge Benitez last week and Maradona has publicly backed former Argentina manager Alfio Basile as his preferred candidate to take over.

Julio Falcioni, currently in charge of unfashionable Banfield, former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa and Uruguay's Jorge Fossati are among the other candidates.

Benitez was sacked for spitting at Guadalajara forward Adolfo Bautista during a Libertadores Cup tie last week.

Source: Xinhua