"We're now opening a disciplinary case against the Argentine coach and now it's up to the relevant party in FIFA - the FIFA disciplinary committee - to enforce it," a FIFA spokesman said on Friday.
He added that FIFA president Sepp Blatter, speaking in Cairo at the World Youth Cup, had announced the governing body's intention to open a disciplinary case against Maradona.
According to article 58 of FIFA's disciplinary code, the sanction could be for a minimum of five matches, prohibit Maradona stadium access for the duration of the suspension and include a fine of at least 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,720).
Maradona, relieved at Argentina's last-gasp qualification for the 2010 finals after a 1-0 win over Uruguay in Montevideo on Wednesday, used bad language when he hit out at critics who had questioned his coaching ability amid poor team performances.
Argentine Football Association president Julio Grondona told the C5N cable TV channel: "On Tuesday we'll discuss this at the executive committee's meeting and see what we do."
His equally emotive celebration at the end of the Uruguay match, which sent Argentina to the finals in South Africa, took a bad turn in the media conference with Maradona's foul language in answer to some questions from Argentine reporters.
