Maradona Being Controversial Again? Surely You Jest

This is a slow soccer news week, so it’s always good to know that we can count on Diego Maradona to liven things up. Whether it’s the “hand of God” goal, or the multiple hospitalizations for every imaginable excess, or [allegedly] cheating on his taxes, or turning up his nose at his beloved Boca Juniors because President Bush’s daughters Jenna and Barbara attended a game in Boca jerseys… Well, life around Diego is never dull.

So what’s he been up to recently?

He’s offended the world Jewish community by expressing his desire to meet with Iranian President and holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

La mano de Dios was quoted as saying that he wants to meet the president of Iran: “I’ve already met (Hugo) Chávez and Fidel (Castro). Now the only one I’ve still got to meet is their [the Iranian] president. I want to meet Ahmadineyad.”

You know. Ahmadinejad. The one who’s called for the destruction of Israel? Yeah. That guy.

Too bad he couldn’t have stuck to playing the game. But we’ll always have this, right?

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Category: South America, World Football