*Emblematic Masterpiece Lot* Incredible Diego Maradona Lot of Cuba Romeo y Julieta HABANO - CIGAR and Cutter Personally Owned by Diego Maradona during Boca Juniors Visit in 2006!

*Provenance: Diego Maradona's Teammate Letter*

Story:

Diego Armando Maradona is a name known around the world for his achievements in football, but far fewer people are aware of his passion for Cuban cigars . This is a man as revered for his skill and achievements on the field as he is loved for his fallibility and humanity off it. His stature in his home country of Argentina, and his adopted city of Naples, is almost godlike and there is hardly a place on earth where people don’t know his name. If “Legend” is a title that is overused in this day and age, it is certainly appropriate in his case.

Maradona is a man known as much for his flaws as his genius. His victories with Argentina and Napoli are as well known as his defeats to drugs and alcohol, and it is this humanity, this open willingness to admit that despite his extraordinary talent, he is as fragile as the rest of us that endears him to so many. His footballing abilities meant that from a young age he received special treatment and his immediate instinct was to use this for the good of others – he once refused a performance bonus due to him at Argentinos Juniors so that it could be distributed fairly among the team. He was still only a teenager and came from a very poor background, but his sense of justice prevailed. In 1981, when he was at Boca Juniors, he faced a mob of armed and angry ultras who had arrived at the training ground to threaten the squad, with Maradona being the only one exempted because of the quality of his play. Diego gave them an ultimatum: leave the squad alone or he would sit out the next game.

Having come from such poverty and developed a strong sense of socialism led to a rather unlikely friendship. In 1986 Maradona was at the height of his powers and fame. He had just led his country to victory in the World Cup, delivering the most notorious and celebrated set pieces in history within a 6 minute period of the quarter-final against England. Riding the wave of this success he began visiting Cuba, where he was granted an audience with Fidel. The pair spent hours discussing football, life and Fidel’s comrade-in-arms (and Maradona’s compatriot and hero) Che Guevara. Diego would bring Fidel gifts of football shirts throughout his glittering career; Fidel would offer advice and became Maradona’s “second father”. It is well known that Cohiba was Fidel’s brand of choice, and these fine cigars would be the accompaniment to their chats.


 This relationship continued and became Maradona’s savior. In 1994, he was sent home from the World Cup in the United States after a failed drug test (it showed traces of steroids in his bloodstream) and was in the grip of cocaine addiction. Finally, in early 2000, Fidel offered him the use of La Pradera, a clinic in Cuba, to combat his addiction and called him every morning to talk about sports, politics and remind him that he could overcome his demons. Maradona stayed in Cuba for 4 years, remarking that Castro “opened the doors of Cuba to me when Argentina closed them.”

The love Maradona developed for cigars during his time in Cuba shaped the rest of his life. In 2009, when he was manager of his beloved Argentina, he travelled to Manchester to watch striker Carlos Tevez represent Manchester United in a match against Chelsea. The visiting Chelsea team’s preparations were disrupted when the fire alarm went off at their hotel – the hotel was also chosen by the visiting Argentine delegation, who decided that smoking cigars in their suite into the early hours of the morning was the best way to spend the night before the match. While official sources refused to confirm the cause of the alarm, local media firmly placed the blame on Diego and his entourage. At the 2018 World Cup in Russia Diego’s love affair with cigars hit the headlines again, as he chose a smokeless match between Argentina and Iceland as the perfect place to light up what appeared to be a Cohiba Robusto. After the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, he apologised, claiming he didn't know the rules and blaming his need to smoke on nerves. One suspects this excuse would only work for him.

Habano details: Romeo and Julieta trademark. Made in Cuba!