Worshipping at the Church of Maradona 10 years on

By: Bob | October 25th, 2007

The usual reaction I have when I hear about the anniversary of something I lived through is to think how quickly time has passed by. That isn’t the case when it comes to the retirement of Diego Maradona. It was ten years ago this week that he played his final game, a superclassico match between Boca Juniors and River Plate. That doesn’t seem like just yesterday. That seems like a lifetime ago.

Since the day he was forced out of the game because of a failed drug test, Maradona has taken his fans on a wild roller coaster ride that has been a traffic accident we just haven’t been able to not stop and look at. Hasta El Gol Siempre sums it up in one incredible paragraph:

Since then, Maradona’s admitted his addiction to cocaine, which almost killed him and which he has had treatment for; he’s admitted his addiction to alcohol, which almost killed him and which he has had treatment for; he’s made a TV show in Argentina, appeared in another in Italy as a celebrity dancer (his participation was cut abruptly short after he had to flee home to Buenos Aires to avoid being arrested for tax evasion), become the main attraction in the ludicrously staged futsal spectacle known as Showbol, gone from being slim to fat to incredibly fat and back to (relatively) slim again, befriended Fidel Castro, made enemies with George Bush, and was pronounced dead twice in a week earlier this year by some rather excitable members of the Argentine press corps.

Even with his made-for-television post-football life, Maradona still remains immensely popular around the world. There exists the Iglesia Maradoniana – the Maradona Church – which now boasts that it has 80,000 members from more than 60 countries. Says one of its founders, Alejandro Veron: “I have a rational religion and that’s the Roman-catholic church, and I have a religion passed on my heart, passion, and that’s Diego Maradona.”

Don’t believe him? Check out this video.