Thousands of people took to the streets to bid an emotional farewell to the Argentina football legend, Diego Maradona, yesterday.
Maradona died on Wednesday from a heart attack at his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, despite attempts to revive him, two weeks after he had been released from hospital following a brain surgery. He was 60.
Several vehicles accompanied the car carrying Maradona’s body from the San Fernando Hospital to the Casa Rosada’s presidential palace in Buenos Aires.
Argentina President Alberto Fernandez, who declared three days of national mourning, had offered the use of the government building to Maradona’s family.
“His unparalleled football skill transformed him into one of the best-known people in the world, crossing frontiers and being universally recognized as the world’s best player,” the official mourning decree read.
Fans began queuing in the early hours of Thursday morning outside the government building before the doors opened to the general public at 6:00am local time (4:00am ET).
Maradona’s former wife, Claudia Villafane, and two of his five children, Dalma and Giannina, were among the first to arrive to the Casa Rosada and entered the Hall of the Patriots where the 1986 World Cup winner’s body lay.
Argentina Football Association (AFA) President Claudio Tapia, several of Maradona’s former teammates and personalities from Boca Juniors, the club Maradona played for before signing for Barcelona in 1982, also paid their respects.
Wednesday’s Copa Libertadores quarterfinals tie between Boca and Internacional had been postponed by Conmebol following Maradona’s death.
AFA said in a statement, “There is no better example than to name Maradona to summarize in a person all the qualities of an Argentinian footballer. Maradona is a synonym of Argentina.”
There were emotional scenes outside the Casa Rosada as fans struggled to cope with the death of Maradona.
The Argentinian side, Gimnasia y La Plata, the club Maradona coached before his operation, suspended all activities for 72 hours.
Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, who Maradona managed as national team coach from 2008-2010, mourned his death and wrote, “He is leaving us but he is not going, because Diego is eternal.”
Meanwhile, his lawyer yesterday accused medics of ‘criminal idiocy’ and demanded an investigation into the football legend’s death, as grieving fans filed past his coffin at the presidential palace in Argentina.