Maradona Wake Keep: Police Clash With Football Fans

Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas on Thursday in clashes with football fans near the wake for Argentine football legend Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires.

Officials earlier directed Maradona’s coffin to be moved to another room inside the presidential palace after fans took over an inner courtyard and disrupted his lying in state.

The government had early announced a three-hour extension to the wake to allow time for thousands of fans to pay their respects.

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Massive crowd had queued from early morning to file past the legend’s coffin, draped in the Argentine flag and the player’s No.10 jersey, at the presidential palace.

Thousands of people were in tears, and some wore replicas of the World Cup winner’s jersey as they gathered at the Casa Rosada palace to see his coffin.

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But as the day goes by, fans queueing outside the palace grew increasingly impatient and some took over a courtyard inside the palace, where they chanted slogans.

A government source told AFP that officials moved Maradona’s coffin to another room as a security precaution.

At the same time, riot police clashed with stone throwing fans on streets around the palace, at the same time many were arrested.

Recall that Maradona died of a heart attack on Wednesday while recovering from surgery earlier this month to remove a blood clot on his brain.

According to Maradona’s spokesman, Sebastian Sanchi, the great football player was to be buried later Thursday at the Jardin de Paz cemetery on the outskirts of the Argentine capital, where his parents were also buried.

AFP