Diego Maradona was an Argentine professional football player and manager who had a net worth of $500,000 at the time of his death. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Maradona’s vision, passing, ball control and dribbling skills were combined with his small stature (1.65 metres (5 ft 5 in)), which gave him a low centre of gravity allowing him to maneuver better than most other football players; he would often dribble past multiple opposing players on a run.
His presence and leadership on the field had a great effect on his team’s general performance, while he would often be singled out by the opposition. In addition to his creative abilities, he possessed an eye for goal and was known to be a free-kick specialist. A precocious talent, Maradona was given the nickname “El Pibe de Oro” (“The Golden Kid”), a name that stuck with him throughout his career.
An advanced playmaker who operated in the classic number 10 position, Maradona was the first player in football history to set the world record transfer fee twice, first when he transferred to Barcelona for a then-world record £5 million, and second, when he transferred to Napoli for another record fee £6.9 million. He played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell’s Old Boys during his club career, and is most famous for his time at Napoli and Barcelona where he won numerous accolades.
In his international career with Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups, including the 1986 World Cup in Mexico where he captained Argentina and led them to victory over West Germany in the final, and won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. In the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history for two different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handling foul known as the “Hand of God”, while the second goal followed a 60 m (66 yd) dribble past five England players, voted “Goal of the Century” by FIFA.com voters in 2002.
Maradona became the coach of Argentina’s national football team in November 2008. He was in charge of the team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament. He then coached Dubai-based club Al Wasl in the UAE Pro-League for the 2011–12 season. In 2017, Maradona became the coach of Fujairah before leaving at the end of the season. In May 2018, Maradona was announced as the new chairman of Belarusian club Dynamo Brest. He arrived in Brest and was presented by the club to start his duties in July. From September 2018 to June 2019, Maradona was coach of Mexican club Dorados.He was the coach of Argentine Primera División club Gimnasia de La Plata from 2019 until his death in 2020.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020 at the age of 60. During his career as a player and coach, Diego earned tens of millions of dollars from salaries and endorsements. In the early 80s he was one of the highest-paid athletes on the planet, earning several million per year from salaries and endorsements with companies like Hublot, Puma and Coca-Cola. Unfortunately he experienced some financial issues that led to him loosing a lot of money.
Diego Maradona became infamous for his addiction to cocaine. It is alleged that he was completely dependent on the substance from the mid-80s till about 2004. Unfortunately, his consistent use of the drug impaired his ability to play football, and this eventually became evident after his move to Napoli.
During his time in the Italian city, he accepted the protection of a mafia crew who supplied him with drugs and women as he traveled through the streets unmolested by obsessed fans. Eventually, he tested positive for cocaine in 1991 and left Napoli in disgrace. He also tested positive for ephedrine after playing two games at the 1994 World Cup.
Maradona’s decline in health and physical fitness began even before his retirement from soccer. While at Napoli, his lifestyle began to spiral out of control and he spent most of the week partying in between games. He also began to put on weight and started to look less and less fit towards the end of his career. After retiring, Diego’s health entered an even steeper decline. He quickly became obese, and at one point weighed a total of 280 pounds. Eventually, he received gastric bypass surgery in 2005 to deal with his obesity.
However, Maradona continued to abuse alcohol, and in 2007 he was hospitalized due to hepatitis and adverse effects of heavy drinking. Rumors of his death soon followed, but Diego later emerged from a psychiatric facility after getting treatment for his addiction issues. In 2007, he stated that he had not consumed alcohol or taken drugs for many years. In 2018, he collapsed in the stands while watching Argentina play at the FIFA World Cup and required treatment from paramedics. Throughout the game, Diego drank white wine, swore at nearby fans, and raised his middle finger to cameras that captured the incident. In 2019, he received treatment for internal bleeding caused by a hernia.
Legal Issues: During the 90s, Maradona struggled with a number of notable legal issues. The first came in 1991 after Diego discreetly tried to meet with prostitutes in Napoli. He unwittingly called an illicit service to organize the rendezvous on a line that was being monitored by the Italian authorities, and they recorded the entire conversation. Because he shared cocaine with the prostitutes, he was eventually charged with a slew of offenses, including distribution and possession of cocaine. After testing positive for cocaine that year, Maradona tried to evade the police and flee to Argentina, but he was brought back by Italian authorities while in tears.
Another major issue came during in 1994 during the FIFA World Cup. In addition to failing a drug test and being dismissed from the competition, Maradona made headlines in the early stages of the tournament when he opened fire on journalists with a pellet gun from his hotel. Several reporters were injured. Four years passed before he was charged with a suspended sentence of two years and ten months.
Financial Issues: Diego Maradona was involved in a tax dispute with Italian authorities dating all the way back to his time playing in Napoli. The unpaid taxes have been accumulating fines and fees for a period of over 30 years. In 2009, Italian officials publicly announced that Maradona owed 37 million Euros in unpaid taxes, which included 23 million Euros in interest.
Police seized some of Diego’s jewelry to pay off the debt, roughly 42,000 Euros. The vast majority of the remaining debt remained unpaid. Maradona insisted that he had no intention of ever paying the taxes, and claimed that he was unfairly mistreated by the Italian authorities. As a result of these statements, Diego was accused of defamation.
