Barely 24 hours after Diego Maradona had been laid to rest, a teenager has demanded the exhumation of the football legend’s body.
Santiago Lara, who was said to have spent years fighting to prove he was Maradona’s son instructed his lawyer to start legal action on the case.
The Argentine great was laid to rest on Friday, after he died of a heat attack.
Santiago’s lawyer, Jose Nunez had gone on air to lodged a request with a family court demanding Maradona’s autopsy, DNA results and the exhumation of his body so it can be transferred to a court morgue.
The development came in the heels of a long and frustrating battle by Santiago to find out who his real father is which began in 2014 when he was barely 13.
Santiago is Maradona’s supposed sixth child and son of a waitress, Natalia Garat, who died aged 23 from lung cancer in 2006 after an alleged seven year on-off relationship with the late football icon.
Meanwhile, Diego only recognised two sons and three daughters by four different women including his ex-wife Claudia Villafane and former long-term partner Veronica Ojeda as his own.
Speaking overnight after Mr Nunez confirmed the sensational exhumation demand, Santiago told Telemundo programme Suelta la Sopa: “My mum sadly died when I was just three years old but days before her death, when she had to remove her ventilator to speak, she told a group of lawyers I was Diego’s son.
“I just want to know who I am. The financial side of things is not something that matters to me.
“I know this demand is going to cause major turmoil in Argentina but if I don’t do this, who is going to give me the DNA?”
In separate interview on an Argentinian TV show which he Nunez attended with a colleague, the lawyer said, “We’re talking about a young lad who has been left in the dark about who he really is.
“Santiago didn’t come here today because he’s suffering emotionally. Not only does he not know who he is but he couldn’t say goodbye to his father,” Nunez said.
