By Victor Kanayo
The children of late football great Diego Maradona are demanding that their father’s body be exhumed and relocated.
This is as they have already filed a request with the Argentine Courts to move the former football great’s body “to a much safer place” and for fans “to pay tribute” in a mausoleum.
A note brought to the court and delivered by Dalma and Gianinna Maradona, and Ojeda on behalf of Diego Maradona Jr. Reads, “All the heirs request by common agreement to authorise the transfer to his next destination of eternal rest (…) in a much safer place than the current one.
“And so that all the Argentine people and the citizens of the world can pay homage to our father who was the greatest Argentine idol.”
Maradona’s remains lie in a private cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where he was carried in November 2020 in a massive funeral procession. Only family members are allowed to enter the cemetery.
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The mausoleum, called “Memorial del Diez,” is located behind the Casa Rosada, the seat of the executive branch of the Argentine government, and will be open to the public, Veronica Ojeda mother of Maradona’s youngest son, told local media.
The relocation will take place around Oct. 30, the birth date of the 1986 World Cup winner with Argentina, one of the family’s lawyers told reporters.
Maradona died at age 60 in November 2020 from a heart attack. Fans of Napoli and of the Argentine national team worshipped him as the “god of football.”