- Title: ITALY: SOCCER/FOOTBALL: Hero's welcome for Maradona in Naples
- Date: 26th February 2013
- Summary: NAPLES, ITALY (FEBRUARY 26, 2013) (REUTERS) CROWDS AND POLICE VANS IN STREET RIOT POLICE HOLDING PEOPLE BACK LARGE CROWD OF FANS SINGING CROWDS OUTSIDE BUILDING PHOTOS OF MARADONA ON TABLE DIEGO MARADONA ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) DIEGSO MARADONA SAYING: "I wanted to tell you all that I can feel, again, the air of Naples in all of my body. It is a long time that I wanted to come to Naples, to see her again but there was someone who wouldn't let me, wouldn't allow me and I can't comprehend why." MARADONA HOLDING UP AND SIGNING PAPERS (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) DIEGO MARADONA SAYING: "I can't understand why the Italian justice system is asking me for 40 million euros. If I, today, had 40 million euros, we wouldn't be here." MARADONA HOLDING UP JERSEY (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) DIEGO MARADONA SAYING: "I have never seen journalists who are Maradona fans!" MARADONA BALANCING BALL ON HIS HEAD AND SIGNING IT
- Embargoed: 13th March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAA3BW6T3RU3E4KKCHD9OJSU27I
- Story Text: Fans gave legendary footballer Diego Maradona a hero's welcome as he visited Naples on Tuesday (February 26).
Large crowds of supporters were held back by police officers as they sang songs and chanted Maradona's name ahead of his arrival for a news conference.
The Argentinian expressed his delight over his return.
"I wanted to tell you all that I can feel, again, the air of Naples in all of my body. It is a long time that I wanted to come to Naples, to see her again but there was someone who wouldn't let me, wouldn't allow me and I can't comprehend why," Maradona said.
Maradona arrived in Italy on Monday (February 25) to answer questions about tax liabilities.
The footballer is thought to have built up a tax bill of almost 40 million euros ($54.30 million), of which 36 million is interest built up since 1984, when Maradona joined Serie A club Napoli.
"I can't understand why the Italian justice system is asking me for 40 million euros. If I, today, had 40 million euros, we wouldn't be here," Maradona told the news conference.
Considered among the greatest soccer players ever, Maradona is still Napoli's all-time top scorer and is considered a hero for leading the club to the Serie A title in 1987 and 1990.
Italian authorities have long pursued the 52-year-old, seizing diamond earrings worth 4,000 euros when he visited a weight loss clinic in northern Italy in 2009.
When Maradona came to Naples for a benefit match in 2006, he was mobbed by supporters but financial police stripped him of two Rolex watches worth 10,000 euros each to help pay off the bill.
The previous year his payment for appearing on TV show 'Dancing with the Stars' was confiscated and in 2001 he was met by 20 police officers as he got off a plane in Rome. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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