Maradona gift to Iran angers Argentine Jews

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Retired soccer legend Diego Maradona stands accused of playing footsie with Iran. The episode has sparked outrage in Argentina, home to Latin America’s largest Jewish community.

Maradona is apparently an admirer of the Iranian regime, a trait he shares with his good friend Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The daily Clarin reports that Maradona recently provided Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a soccer jersey stamped with his trademark No. 10. The Iranian press agency reported that Maradona lauded the Iranian president as ‘brave.’’

Argentine authorities allege that Iran was behind the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that left 85 dead. Iran has denied any involvement and called the charges a U.S.-inspired frame job. But Jewish leaders in Argentina have pressed for the arrest of the alleged Iranian ringleaders.

Sergio Burstein, a Jewish community representative, said of the soccer jersey affair: ‘The hands that receive Maradona’s shirt are stained with blood.’’

-- Patrick J. McDonnell and Andres D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires.