November 27 – In contrast to his global popularity, Diego Maradona was buried in a small private ceremony on Thursday amid emotional scenes especially on the streets of his native Argentina and in Naples where he resurrected the fortunes of the Serie A club.
The occasion was attended only by family members and close friends next to the graves of his parents.
But hours beforehand, tens of thousands filed past his coffin at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. At times the hero-worshipping became violent as fans reportedly accused police of stopping them from paying their respects in what was the equivalent of a state funeral.
‘Diego is not dead, Diego lives in the people’, fans chanted as the coffin was taken to a cemetery outside Buenos Aires.
Maradona died aged just 60 of a heart attack on Wednesday as he was recovering from brain surgery. His coffin was draped with the Argentine flag and shirts bearing his famed No. 10 .
On Thursday, his lawyer, Matías Morla, said he would ask for a full investigation into the circumstances of his client’s death, and criticised what he said was a slow response by emergency services.
Three days of national mourning were announced for the player who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and was revered like no other sportsman in history, his off-the-field troubles resonating with millions of ordinary Argentines.
In Italy, crowds tied hundreds of blue and white scarfs to the railings outside his former club Napoli, while in France, sports paper L’Equipe’s front page blared out: ‘God is dead’.
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