The death of Diego Armando Maradona has divided Italy in two: if in the south the Argentine football player is worshipped by the majority, in the north people have a very different opinion.
Last week, following the death of Maradona, the San Paolo stadium in Naples was stormed by thousands of mourners bringing candles, flowers, and messages of devotion to express their grief for the loss. Luigi De Magistris, Mayor of Naples, has even proposed to rename the San Paolo stadium after the Argentine football player, who played some of his best matches there.
Napoli team supporter Giuseppe Nappo declared: “Today is the first day I haven’t cried. When I was young, the city was only known for the Camorra and crime. He gave us a new identity, and made the world see that Naples was worth something.”
During the seven years (from 1984 to 1991) he played for Napoli, Maradona restored the pride of Naples by winning two times the football league, and the UEFA and Italian cups.
“For us Neapolitans, it’s as if a member of the family has died. The south has always been hungry and abandoned. When he arrived, we had a thousand difficulties, but the moments of joy he brought us on the pitch made us forget them, like a love story,” revealed Napoli supporter Carlo Rufino to Politico.
But the situation is quite different in the north of Italy. There, no mourning happened. And some politicians and commentators have even used Maradona’s death to remind people of his flaws: the cocaine addiction, the unpaid taxes, and his close relationships with mafia. According to some journalists, the dark side of the football player perfectly depicts the illegality and crime of southern Italy.
Politico reports that Daniele Martinelli, an Italian journalist in Bergamo, wrote on his Facebook page: “They weep for a dealer, narco, boozer, tax-evading womanizer. In Napoli they compete to see who can take the most days off work mourning.” Former Juventus player Antonio Cabrini has criticized the mourning in Naples by asserting that Maradona “would be still alive if he had played for Juventus instead.” He later apologized.
Of course, criticism is part of political strategies of right-wing parties. Politicians from the right-wing party Lega Nord (Northern League), have been quick to complain about the mass gatherings in Naples, where mourners did not abide with social distancing measures and other strict coronavirus lockdown rules. Roberto Calderoli, a Senator from the Northern League, criticized the Italian government for looking the other way when a crowd of more than 7,000 people gathered at the San Paolo stadium. According to Elia Delmiglio, mayor of Casalpusterlengo in Lombardy – a village that was severely hit by the virus during the first wave – the refusal to follow the rules in Naples was “disrespectful.”
Neapolitans think that this criticism represents further evidence of the prejudice the north has towards the south. After Maradona joined Napoli in 1984, he always defended his adopted home in interviews. And thanks to his goals, he restored Naples’ self-respect, challenging the superiority of the north. Despite the numerous offers to play in northern football teams Turin and Milan, Maradona never abandoned Naples for northern Italy.
