Kolkata: Argentine soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona arrived in Kolkata on a three day visit. The former World Cup winning captain landed at the Netaji Subhash International airport at 7pm from Dubai. He was seen in a blue T’shirt with a cap. Maradona is accompanied by his girlfriend.
The former Argentina super star came out of Gate 5B amidst high security. He was seen spotting his trademark smile as he acknowledged his fans at the airport by waving his left hand. But the best moment came a little later when Maradona climbed on the roof of his car and threw flying kisses to his fans. The former Argentina captain also showed victory signs while thumping on the roof of his car.
Maradona headed straight to the hotel in Rajarhat from the airport. Tomorrow he will visit a few cancer affected patients at the Shreebhumi Sporting Club in Lake Town. He will lay the foundation stone of his own statue. After that he will pay a visit to a programme which has been arranged for his sponsors of his trip to the city. Later in the evening a gala dinner has been arranged in his honour. A programme named ‘Hall of Fame’ will take place there too.
The football lovers will see the highly anticipated ‘Diego vs Dada’ match on Tuesday. Last time when Maradona paid a visit to the City of Joy, he didn’t play any match. Though, it is still unclear whether he can play the full match as he had undergone a shoulder surgery a few days back. On the other hand a lot of celebrities won’t be available to play the match due to changes of the schedule.
Maradona’s visit was originally scheduled on September 19 (during Mahalaya) before being postponed to October 2 and then deferred till October 8. Later he again shifted the date to November and finally in another video message he said that he will come to Kolkata in December.
This will be his second visit to the City of Joy. He last came to Kolkata in December 2008.