Buenos Aires university hosts first Maradona congress

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Nov 08 (AP): In the main auditorium of one of Latin America's most prestigious universities, the academic solemnity was interrupted by chants of "Ole, ole, Diego, Diego," from fans wearing jerseys of Argentina, Boca Juniors, and Napoli.
Three decades after Diego Maradona captivated Oxford University when he juggled a golf ball with his left foot after delivering a lecture, nostalgia for "El Diez," who died in 2020, generated a similar effect at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires.
The scene happened within the framework of the first International Congress on Diego Maradona, where academics began debating from Thursday to Saturday the impact the soccer superstar had on popular culture and beyond the pitch.
"There is no athlete in the world, let alone a soccer player, who can be encompassed and approached from as many angles as Diego Maradona," journalist Daniel Arcucci said at the opening on Thursday. He's the authorized biographer of the captain of Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning team.