Goodbye San Paolo, hello “Diego Armando Maradona”. The “Napoli” stadium was officially renamed, under a resolution adopted by the city on Friday, less than ten days after the death of the Argentine star who had worn the club’s colors between 1984 and 1991.
The mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, had proposed to change the name of the stadium on November 25, just hours after the announcement of the disappearance of the Argentine star, idol of the Neapolitans after his passage marked by the only two titles of Italian club champion. “The deliberation was signed by the entire city council,” the municipality said in a statement.
Maradona is hailed by the town hall as “the greatest footballer of all time who, with his immense talent and his magic, has honored the Naples jersey for seven years, offering him two Scudetti (Italian league titles, Editor’s note) and other prestigious cups, and receiving in exchange for the entire city an eternal and unconditional love ”.
Napoli’s next home game is next Thursday in the Europa League against Real Sociedad. The Neapolitan players have already paid tribute to their ex-N.10 in their last two matches at San Paolo. In the Europa League, they all wore his number on the back during the minute of silence, the day after his death. They then played last Sunday against Roma in the league with a jersey reminiscent of Argentina’s, designed in tribute to Maradona.
“Welcome to the Diego Armando Maradona stadium”, greeted the club in the evening on its social networks. Napoli “welcomes the resolution signed by the entire city council to rename Diego Armando Maradona the now ex-San Paolo stadium”, according to a club statement.
The Neapolitan president Aurelio de Laurentiis had supported the mayor’s proposal in a letter addressed to Maradona: “I believe it is right to baptize San Paolo with your name to have you still with us”.
The stadium of the octopus city, inaugurated in 1959, is the third Italian enclosure in terms of capacity (approximately 55,000 seats), behind Giuseppe Meazza in Milan and the Olimpico in Rome, according to the club’s website. Its last renovation was carried out for the 1990 World Cup, where it notably hosted the hot semi-final between Italy, the host country, and Argentina’s Maradona (the Argentines had qualified on penalties before losing 1-0 in the final against Germany).
It is in this stadium that Maradona was presented to the supporters upon his arrival in the bay, in 1984, in an atmosphere of fire. He came there for the last time, as a supporter, on February 12, 2014, for an Italian Cup semi-final return between Napoli and Roma. The God of the Round Ball brought luck to his former club and his Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, as Napoli won 3-0. Diego’s “hand” surely …
