WHAT HAPPENED WHEN PABLO ESCOBAR INVITED DIEGO MARADONA TO PRISON TO PLAY A FOOTBALL MATCH?
Diego Maradona, the extremely controversial superstar, world cup winner, and arguably one of the best football players of all time, caught the eye of a certain individual by the name of Pablo Escobar.
For those unfamiliar with Escobar, he’s a famous Colombian drug lord, often referred to as the “king of cocaine” who died with an estimated net worth of $30 billion (in 1993).
In 1991, Escobar was in prison, but that didn’t dampen his love for football. In fact, he loved it so much, that he wanted to bring one of the biggest names in world football to prison to play in a friendly game of football.
It’s been reported that a man working for Escobar approached Maradona with the idea, and quite obviously a boat load of money to try and convince him to play.
When he was taken to go and see Escobar in Prison, he said he was surrounded by “thousands of guards” and he initially thought he was being arrested. The prison was more akin to a “luxury hotel” than your standard prison…!
In Maradona’s own words, “we played the game and everyone enjoyed themselves. Later that evening, we had a party with the best girls I’d ever seen in my life. And it was in a prison! I couldn’t believe it. The next morning, he paid me and said goodbye.”
Money is a crazy ol’ thing.