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The controversial situation occurred last Tuesday when Manuel Adorni highlighted Argentine figures who are left-handed.
Could any Argentine possibly forget Diego Maradona? The answer (incredibly) is yes.
Everything happened last Tuesday when, on the occasion of International Left-Handers Day, the spokesperson for the Argentine presidency, Manuel Adorni, began to highlight Argentine figures who are left-handed and forgot about El Pibe: “I want to greet Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María, Emanuel Ginóbili, Sergio Maravilla Martínez, and Guillermo Vilas. I would also like to greet great Argentine musicians like Gustavo Cerati and Charly García. Great left-handed individuals who, in these cases, contributed to the greatness of Argentina.”
However, the omission of Maradona did not go unnoticed. The journalists present in the room quickly pointed out the oversight. Upon receiving the comment, Adorni attempted to apologize, saying, “Ah… Yes, he was left-handed.”
This response did not sit well with Argentines, and it was interpreted as a sign of indifference towards the historic captain of the Argentine national team, regarded by many as the best player in the history of football. The comment had a strong impact on social media, with many people criticizing the ‘forgetting.’
Subsequently, Adorni tried to apologize, stating that the omission was unintentional and that his intention was never to downplay Maradona’s significance: “I found national team players and then started to find players from other sports. I had no intention of omitting anyone and, in fact, I must have left out many other athletes.”
“Denying the idol that Maradona was or the contribution he made in sporting terms is not being Argentine. I saw him play on the field. It is indisputable that Maradona is an idol; at no time did I belittle Maradona,” insisted the presidential spokesperson.
The situation also drew a comment from the Argentine star’s daughter, Dalma Maradona, who criticized the spokesperson: “A person who repeats what they have to say, who doesn’t even have their own thought, is the spokesperson for someone else, not someone who can say what they think.”
“Ask Messi, Ginóbili, Di María, Maravilla Martínez… Ask all of them what they think of the left-handed player that was forgotten,” said Maradona’s daughter in an interview with the streaming channel Bondi.