An airplane dedicated to Argentine great Diego Maradona was on Wednesday unveiled ahead of a journey that is to end at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November.
The Tango D10S — a 12-seater financed by an Argentine fintech company — is designed as a flying museum in tribute to the former World Cup winner, who died of a heart attack in November 2020.
It features a picture of Maradona kissing the World Cup trophy on the fuselage, while his face is also on the tail.
Photo: AP
The wings feature his two goals from Argentina’s 2-1 victory over England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final: the ‘Hand of God’ goal on the left wing and the winner, a goal widely regarded as the greatest of all time, on the right.
“I am mad about Maradona, one of those people who still watch videos of Diego before I go to sleep at night,” said Gaston Kolker, CEO of fintech company Give and Get.
“This is the first World Cup without Maradona and maybe the last with [Lionel] Messi. I said: ‘I want to make Diego’s plane, I want to make Diego’s plane.’ And so we launched Tango D10S,” Kolker said.
“When Maradona’s teammates saw it — the World Cup winners from 1986 — they were amazed, they were hypnotized,” Kolker said at an unveiling with other members from that World Cup winning side.
The plan is to fly the plane around Argentina and eventually to Qatar for the World Cup.
Fans can board the aircraft and leave a message for Maradona in the cockpit, “interact” with the late player through artificial intelligence, and see memorabilia from the 1986 team.
The plane is to be auctioned off for charity.
“We can’t believe or understand this craziness, the love involved,” one of Maradona’s daughters, Dalma, said. “How far will fans go? They’ll go as far as a plane.”
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