Maradona Tributes the Backdrop as Rattled Napoli Aim to Bounce Back

Naples-born Lorenzo Insigne wearing Napoli's special kit honoring Maradona earlier this month Carlo Hermann. AFP/File
Naples-born Lorenzo Insigne wearing Napoli's special kit honoring Maradona earlier this month Carlo Hermann. AFP/File
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Maradona Tributes the Backdrop as Rattled Napoli Aim to Bounce Back

Naples-born Lorenzo Insigne wearing Napoli's special kit honoring Maradona earlier this month Carlo Hermann. AFP/File
Naples-born Lorenzo Insigne wearing Napoli's special kit honoring Maradona earlier this month Carlo Hermann. AFP/File

Napoli will pay tribute to Diego Maradona on Sunday when they host Lazio hoping to put two painful and costly consecutive defeats behind them.

The football world honored Maradona on the anniversary of his death on Thursday but Napoli are using this weekend's fixture to enable Neapolitans to finally say goodbye at the place where their icon was most at home, AFP said.

On Thursday Napoli told supporters to arrive at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona over three hours early so they could be in the stands for an "intense" commemoration ceremony dedicated to the man who led a previously mediocre team to their only two Serie A titles and the 1989 UEFA Cup.

Maradona remains a God-like figure in Naples, where children are still named Diego in his honor and murals of the Argentine can be found all over the city, despite his grisly fall from grace at the end of his turbulent seven years in southern Italy, a failed drugs test and details of a sordid private life dogging him as he fled back to Buenos Aires in 1991.

Now Napoli fans will be able to collectively express their love for Maradona in the stadium where he weaved magic at the peak of his career, after being locked out by Covid-19 a year ago.

"Naples was always there for dad, and he was always there for Naples," says his son Diego Maradona Junior in a recent Sky Italia documentary.

"You see a sticker in a car, or a mural, or a kid on the street who has a top with Maradona written on the back, and that fills me with pride because he gave the people of my city unending joy."

Napoli will be hoping for a boost from the pre-match events as they take on Lazio off the back of losses at Inter Milan and Spartak Moscow.

The 3-2 defeat at the San Siro last weekend was Napoli's first of the league season, cut the gap between the league leaders and champions Inter to four points and cost them their star striker Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen is expected to be out of action for three months after fracturing his left cheek and eye socket in a sickening clash of heads with Milan Skriniar.

To make matters worse their hopes of making the Europa League knockouts are still in the balance following a fraught 2-1 defeat in Moscow on Wednesday.

Napoli's bid to maintain their Serie A lead has also been hit by the absence of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has been a revelation in midfield since arriving in the summer on loan from Fulham.

AC Milan, who are level on 32 points with Napoli and on a high after their win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, host Sassuolo with coach Stefano Pioli set to sign an extension to his contract which will keep him at the club until the summer of 2023.

Juventus meanwhile travel to high-flying Atalanta still reeling from their 4-0 demolition at Chelsea, four points behind their opponents who sit in the final Champions league spot.

Player to watch: Giovanni SimeoneWhile Napoli prepare to give Maradona the send off they would have liked to a year ago, another Argentine in the shape of Simeone is making waves in Italy.

After striking against both Juventus and Napoli in recent weeks, Simeone is having the best season of his life on loan at Verona under Igor Tudor and has scored his nine Serie A goals in his last eight matches.

Verona travel to struggling Sampdoria with the European places in their sights thanks to the 26-year-old's red hot form.



Galatasaray Accuses Jose Mourinho of Making Racist Comments After Turkish League Game 

Football - Super Lig - Galatasaray v Fenerbahce - Rams Park, Istanbul, Türkiye - February 24, 2025 Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho is seen before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Super Lig - Galatasaray v Fenerbahce - Rams Park, Istanbul, Türkiye - February 24, 2025 Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho is seen before the match. (Reuters)
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Galatasaray Accuses Jose Mourinho of Making Racist Comments After Turkish League Game 

Football - Super Lig - Galatasaray v Fenerbahce - Rams Park, Istanbul, Türkiye - February 24, 2025 Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho is seen before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Super Lig - Galatasaray v Fenerbahce - Rams Park, Istanbul, Türkiye - February 24, 2025 Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho is seen before the match. (Reuters)

Galatasaray plans to start criminal proceedings against Jose Mourinho and file complaints with soccer's governing body after accusing the Fenerbahce coach of making racist comments after a Turkish league game.

The league leaders issued a statement after Monday's 0-0 draw with Fenerbahce announcing the action against Mourinho, the 62-year-old Portuguese coach who moved to Türkiye from Roma last year after stints at high-profile clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Mourinho was fined and suspended earlier in the season for a tirade against local match officials and the league. His comments regarding Turkish referees and the Galatasaray bench following Monday's match between the top two teams in the domestic league sparked further criticism.

In a statement, Galatasaray said Mourinho had “persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people.”

“Today, his discourse has escalated. We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings concerning the racist statements made by Jose Mourinho and shall accordingly submit official complaints to UEFA and FIFA.”

In his post-match interview, Mourinho welcomed the decision to bring in a foreign referee for the game and also praised Slavko Vincic of Slovenia for a “top performance.”

Mourinho said he'd gone to see the referee and thank him following the game. When he saw the fourth official — a Turkish referee — Mourinho said he told him: “If you are the referee ... would be a disaster.”

Asked about a challenge early in the match, he said a Turkish referee would have reacted with a yellow card “after the big dive and their bench jumping around like monkeys.”

In November, the outspoken Mourinho was banned for a game and fined following his diatribe about Turkish soccer, when he said he was fighting “the system” and suggested officials are biased against his team.

He has led Fenerbahce to a Europa League round-of-16 contest against Rangers next month.