Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona (R) controls the ball under pressure from Bolivian presidential spokesman Alex Contreras during their friendly soccer match in La Paz March 17, 2008. Maradona will be the first runner to carry the Olympic torch when it arrives in Argentine capital Buenos Aires on April 11, if he is in Argentina. (Xinhua/Reuters file Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BUENOS AIRES, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Argentine soccer celebrity Diego Maradona will be the first runner to carry the Olympic torch when it arrives in Argentine capital Buenos Aires on April 11, if he is in Argentina, a source close to the negotiations told Xinhua on Tuesday.

    "He is willing and negotiations are going well," the source said, but he said that Maradona will be heading back from an overseas visit during this time, and has been unable to confirm for that reason.

    Maradona, 47, has been formally invited by Francisco Irarrazabal, the deputy sports chief for Buenos Aires city council. The Argentine Olympic Committee did not invite him because their focus is on former Olympic athletes, a criterion Maradona fails to meet.

    If Maradona takes part he will carry the torch to the Puerto Madero Amphitheatre, on the corner of Juana Manso and Vera Penaloza street, reaching there at 2:00 p.m. local time.

    Also taking part will be tennis player Gabriela Sabatini, silver medallist in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, who will run with the torch to the Palermo Horse Racing Club, reaching there at 4:00 p.m. local time.

    According to earlier reports, the following athletes will be included in the torch relay: boxer Pablo Chacon; swimmer Georgina Bardach; footballers Andres D'Alessandro and Cristian "Kily" Gonzalez; field hockey's Magdalena Aicegal; cyclist Juan Gabriel Curuchet; golfer Eduardo Romero; volleyball's Pablo Meana, canoeing's Javier Correa, athletics' Alejandra Garcia; rugby's Manuel Contepomi and blind soccer's Silvio Velo.

    An important absence from the list of sports is basketball, where Argentina won an Olympic gold in 2004. Former dancer Julio Bocca will not be in Argentina in time to carry the torch, the source said.

    Buenos Aires is the only area in Latin America where the Olympic torch will pay a visit during its 137,000km world journey.

 
Olympic torch leaves for Almaty, starting world tour

    BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Olympic torch relay officially embarked on its world tour as the charter Air China plane carrying the holy flame on Tuesday left Beijing for Kazakhstan's Almaty, the first stop of the 137,000 kilometers (85,000 miles) worldwide journey.   Full story