Football legend Maradona, considered by many to be the greatest of all time, sadly passed away on Wednesday evening aged 60-years-old, with thousands paying respects in Buenos Aires in the following days.
On Friday it emerged that a funeral parlour worker had been sacked after a selfie he took of Maradona in the open coffin went viral.
Maradona’s lawyer, Matias Morla, has had some strong words about the man involved in the incident, saying, “For the sake of my friend’s memory, I will not rest until he pays for this outrage.”
A father and son also took pictures with the open coffin, repeating the first man’s thumbs up pose, with local reports saying they were also fired.
Claudio Fernandez, who took the picture with his 18-year-old son Ismael, went on Argentinian radio to ‘beg’ for forgiveness, as per the Daily Mail.
“We were getting ready to take Diego to the wake and my son, being a typical youngster, made the thumbs-up sign and had his photo taken,” Claudio said on air.
“I ask for everyone’s forgiveness. I’ve worked for Maradona’s father and his brother-in-law.
“I’ve been close to Diego while he was alive. I would never have disrespected him while he was alive because he was my idol and it was not my intention after he died.
“I know a lot of people have been very offended and have taken it badly. I know it upset them.
“I ask all of them to forgive us.
This video really shows the emotion/scale of the fans’ tribute to Maradona outside #Napoli’s stadium last night. SOUND ON! pic.twitter.com/NwG04vY87W
— Daniella Matar (@DaniellaMatar) November 27, 2020
Morla had initially posted a picture of the first man to be shown with a photograph of Maradona in the coffin on social media, outing him as Diego Molina, before the second picture emerged.
Molina has since had abuse and numerous death threats from Maradona fans over his actions.
Diego Molina es el canalla que se sacó una foto junto al féretro de Diego Maradona. Por la memoria de mí amigo no voy a descansar hasta que pague por semejante aberración. pic.twitter.com/UtUk8tQHlw
— MATIAS MORLA (@MatiasMorlaAb) November 26, 2020
Matias Picon, the owner of the funeral parlour where the men worked, said, “My dad is 75 and he’s crying. I’m crying. My brother’s crying, too. We’re all in pieces.”
Mr Picon also revealed he rang Maradona’s ex wife Claudia Villafane about the incident, adding, “She was very angry and told me it never should have happened and that this wasn’t the photo they wanted.
“I explained what had happened and said sorry.” (sportbible)
