One year after the death of Diego Armando Maradona, the ‘popular saint’ of Argentina with many shadows

Maradona’s first own house, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Paternal, not only hides mythical objects from Pelusa. Going up the stairs, on the upper floor, there is a small sanctuary, decorated with paintings, soccer shoes and even an altar with photographs.

“Some Catholics cross themselves, we have seen people kneel, break … The truth is that these are moments that are lived very hard by Diego,” he points out to Efe César Pérez, curator of a house-museum that is a pilgrimage point for Maradonian “parishioners”.

This house is not the only temple where prayers are dedicated to the former soccer player: thousands of murals and hundreds of altars populate the cities of Argentina, a country where millions of people have elevated Diego Maradona to the status of “popular saint”, from whose death This is one year old tomorrow.

Hundreds of altars

The street tributes to Ten are infinite. Large murals, smaller paintings and affectionate dedications appear in every corner of Buenos Aires, especially in the neighborhood of La Paternal, home of the club that saw him born professionally, Argentinos Juniors.

The Argentinos field, renamed “Estadio Diego Armando Maradona”, is full of artistic references to Pelusa and also has an altar similar to the one installed in his house-museum.

Diego is a popular idol. Making altars was also a way of giving him back to the people ”, Verónica Sánchez, creator of“ Santa Maradona ”, tells Efe, an initiative that aims to honor the memory of the former soccer player through small wooden altars.

The woman had planned to make only ten altars at first, but the social interest was so great that she ended up building 168, most of them scattered throughout the most humble neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.

A passion motivated by the enormous “empathy” that Maradona generated among the popular classes, to whom he spoke “as equals”, as a person who never lost sight of his origins.

“He spoke the same language as us, he never spoke from above, he never spoke like Diego the super player, he always spoke from the level. That made us all feel part of him, like one more friend, and that is the affection we have for him, ”says Sánchez.

“It was not only ‘Argentina, world champion in 86’, Diego and his soccer magic,” he adds. It was a lot of things that he represented for all of us, especially for the middle and lower classes. The love that these people have for him is infinite, you will always remember someone who made you happy. “

A ‘saint’ with many shadows

This condition of “popular saint” of Diego Maradona is crossed by multiple shadows, which last a year after his death.

Without going any further, last week Maradona’s alleged Cuban ex-partner, Mavys Álvarez, testified before the Argentine Justice in a case involving the former soccer player’s environment for alleged human trafficking.

This case, which is still pending formalization as a judicial investigation, covers the two months that Álvarez spent in Buenos Aires when he was only 16 years old, between the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002, a time during which he was unable to freely go out to the street, according to his story.

This Monday, at a press conference before international agencies, Álvarez also listed the harassment he suffered during his four-year relationship with the world champion, including sexual abuse, physical assault and pressure to use drugs.

“It is hard to be in his country, to see that he is everywhere, that he is an idol and, at the same time, everything I remember about him as a person feels ugly,” lamented Álvarez, who does not rule out that other women have passed for a similar situation with the Ten.

Eternal memory

Popular idol for many, a character that arouses less sympathy for so many others, the truth is that the memory of Maradona will remain intact in several generations of Argentines, although his most staunch followers consider him eternal.

“I think Diego will always remember it, because he was everything. Better player there can be many; now, a figure like Diego Maradona … For now there is no one who can reach his heels in what he meant for all of us ”, says Verónica Sánchez.

For curator César Pérez, Maradona’s greatest legacy is his own personal story, that of a humble boy “who went from having nothing to conquering the world” of football.

“Diego, we love you. Wherever you are, we will always take care of your home ”, concludes Pérez, closing behind him the doors of a sanctuary that is already historic. (D)