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Italian team Napoli’s San Paolo stadium has been officially renamed the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in honor of the Argentine midfielder who led them to their only two Serie A and UEFA Cup titles, the city council said on Friday.
Maradona passed away last week after suffering a heart attack at his home in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, less than a month after his 60th birthday.
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The city council approved the resolution proposed by the mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, to change the name of the stadium in honor of the great world champion who scored 115 goals in seven years at the club.
“I have been in talks with the local authorities for the last 17 years, I have always asked to buy the stadium and change the name to ‘Diego Armando Maradona’,” Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis told Sky in Italy.
“If then, by tradition, we need to call him both ‘San Paolo’ and ‘Maradona’ so be it. It won’t change much, but it’s only fair that Maradona has this recognition. Even if we had to build a completely new stadium, I would call it that.
“His years here remain indelible in the memory of the people of Naples, symbol of a coveted redemption and a longed-for resurrection.”
Maradona signed for Napoli in 1984 and helped the club conquer northern teams like Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, considered the aristocratic establishment of Italian football, and briefly turned Serie A around.
Source: espn.co.uk
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