Napoli Name Stadium after Diego Maradona

Napoli’s stadium has been renamed after Diego Maradona in memory of the late Argentine who led the club to two Italian league titles, Naples town hall said Friday.

The city authorities and the club’s president had proposed renaming the San Paolo Stadium within hours of Maradona’s death on November 25.

The Argentine star had most of his exploit at Napoli, a club he played for between 1984 and 1990.

The Stadio San Paolo will now be known as the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, after the Napoli city council approved the resolution.

According to BBC, Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis proposed renaming the stadium in an open letter after Maradona’s death.

The mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, also backed the idea.

Maradona spent seven years at Napoli after joining from Barcelona in 1984, also winning the 1987 Coppa Italia and 1989 Uefa Cup with the Italian club.

Fans gathered at the stadium to pay tribute to him after his death on 25 November and Napoli honoured him before their Europa League match against HNK Rijeka, each player wearing a shirt with ‘Maradona 10’ on the back.

“The resolution was signed by the entire city council,” said the council in a statement.

They added that Maradona was “the greatest footballer of all time” who “with his immense talent and magic honoured the Napoli team shirt for seven years” and “receiving in exchange from the whole city an eternal and unconditional love”.

Maradona made 188 appearances for Napoli, more than he made for any other club in his career, and scored 81 goals.

December 04, 2020