The refusal of chairman Firoz Kassam to allow Ramon Diaz and the rest of the Argentine coaching team into his stadium led to extraordinary scenes during Oxford United's 1-0 home defeat by Chester on Saturday.

Diaz & Co said that they wanted to say a final goodbye to the supporters after talks over new contracts broke down earlier in the week, but Kassam had other ideas.

He stated on Thursday that he did not want any of them to be present at Saturday's game.

But the Argentines were determined to attend, and bought tickets for the Oxford Mail Stand.

However, Kassam told his staff, that nobody, under any circumstances, was to allow any of them into the ground, with serious repercussions if they were to do so.

Just ten minutes into the game, and a big furore broke out behind the Oxford Mail Stand, with everybody's attention switching away from the game.

Diaz & Co had tried to get in, but were turned away by a number of stewards, and an unsightly argument broke out.

Diaz and former head coach Horacio Rodriguez, along with two associates, gave up arguing and jumped into their car and drove off.

but Jean Marc Goiran, the man who set up the whole deal with Kassam, continued to plead with security staff to gain entry.

By now, a number of United fans had come out of the ground and were telling stewards to let Goiran in, while telling him how sorry they were that the seven-strong team were not returning.

Eventually, Goiran was told that if he wanted to take a seat in the directors box, he could - but he declined, and walked away.

Kassam explained the reasons for refusing to to let Diaz and his colleagues in.

He said: "I did not think it was appropriate for them to be in with the supporters, after all that has happened.

"I invited them to come into the boardroom and watch the match, but then learned that they tried to buy tickets for the Oxford Mail stand, and so I took the decision not to let them in.

"There was no need for them to do that, and if they wanted to watch the match that much, they could have sat in the directors' box.

"It was very unprofessional and underhand of them to do what they did.

"The matter was finished on Thursday as far as I was concerned - and that was why I did what I did.

"It is my intention to go public on the deal that bought them here, and what was talked about, and I hope to do that at a fans' forum in the very near future.

"It will certainly give the Oxford Mail some headlines"

Inside the ground, there were two 'Kassam Out' banners, but apart from a few chants of Ramon Diaz's Yellow Army from the home fans, there were no real protests.

The Argentines had asked to speak with the local media after the match, but decided it was best to cancel the meeting after the unfortunate scenes earlier in the day.