Batistuta: ‘I feel in debt to Maradona’

Former Fiorentina star Gabriel Batistuta expressed remorse over the treatment of Diego Maradona, suggesting that ‘we gave him nothing’. 

Batistuta and Maradona’s Serie A careers never overlapped, with the former arriving for Fiorentina for the 1991-92 season and the latter leaving the summer prior. The pair did play together for Argentina, most notably at the 1994 World Cup in the US, but largely they represented different eras.

Speaking to La Nacion, Batistuta discussed Maradona’s death and the way he was treated throughout his life.

“When I think of him I feel strange, in debt. I don’t agree with 60% of the things he did, but what did we do to take care of him? 

“What have I, as a fan, and the society we are in, done? We didn’t do s**t. He had given us everything and we gave him nothing back. From the beginning no one did anything for Diego. 

“The last image of Maradona on TV is deplorable, when I saw it I said to myself ‘this guy is a ghost,’ I think they had dragged him there to take advantage of him.”

A controversial figure both during and after his playing career, Maradona is often considered to be one of the greatest footballers of all time. The Argentinian famously led Napoli to two Scudetti and played a leading role for Argentina in their 1986 World Cup triumph. 

Maradona is still exalted to almost deity status in the city of Naples and his visage is present in murals across the Campania capital.