March 17 – Maradona Fails Drug Test

“INSIDE every fat man, they say, there is a thin man trying to get out. In the case of Maradona, it seems, there is an even fatter man trying to get in.” Martin Amis

Today in 1991 marked the beginning of the end for Amis’ favourite rotund player, as he tested positive for cocaine after Napoli’s match against Bari.

El Diego was then slapped with a 15-month ban, which brought to an end his seven-year spell in Naples that had seen more ups and downs than… well a night on the town with the man himself.

Napoli fans had never had too much to shout about before the arrival of Maradona. Two Italian Cups was all that they could boast in the trophy cabinet, so when the suits shelled out a record £6.9m for the world’s most exciting player, the Neapolitans had reason to celebrate.

Around 80,000 fans turned up at Stadio San Paolo to welcome their new signing, with 253 journalists and 78 photographers also in attendance,as this clip shows. This set a precedent for a media circus that never really died down.

Maradona ushered Napoli through the most successful period in their history, winning two Serie A titles, one Italian Cup, one Uefa Cup and an Italian Supercup. The diminutive Argentinean was in his pomp during this period, as he would also go on to lift the World Cup in 1986.

The city of Naples went barmy for him, and urban myths circulated such as the fact that over 25% of babies were named ‘Diego’ or ‘Diega’ following their 1987 title triumph and that 20,000 voters in a local election simply marked their ballot papers with ‘Viva Maradona’.

However, we all know where this story is going. It was becoming more and more evident that Maradona enjoyed the high life (quite literally, as it happened). In 1989 pictures were published show him in a jacuzzi with members of the Giuliano family that ran the Camorra, Naples’ branch of the mafia.

Ever since his Barcelona days Diego had used cocaine and Napoli bosses would later admit that if Maradona had not managed to stay clean in the days before a game, they would switch samples before testing was carried out.

His form in the 1990/91 season had dropped and by the time he failed his drugs test he had only netted six times that season, all of them penalties. After being given his 15-month ban, Maradona quickly hot-footed it back to Argentina where he would spout all manner of conspiracy theories.

Maradona claimed that the whole of Italy had it in for him after he had played such a crucial part in knocking the Azzurri out of the 1990 World Cup in their own backyard and also argued that as cocaine wasn’t exactly performance-enhancing he shouldn’t have received such a ban.

Without their star player Napoli began a rapid decline, especially after their talented young playmaker Gianfranco Zola left for Parma in 1993. After a few seasons of yo-yoing between Serie A and B they were declared bankrupt and demoted in 2004, although, this being Italian football, they were back in the top flight by 2007.

Maradona meanwhile attempted a comeback with Seville after his ban, but would again fail a drugs test at the 1994 World Cup. After returning with his beloved Boca Juniors he called it a day in 1997.

We never get bored of watching showreels of the greatest ever player, so have a look at another one below then check out what else was going on today here. Until tomorrow, you stay classy.