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Diego Maradona Reportedly Refused United States Entry for Insulting Donald Trump
February 2, 2018
Diego Maradona has been refused entry to the United States because he insulted President Donald Trump, according to the Argentina legend's lawyer.
Matias Morla, Maradona's legal representative, was on Argentinian television show Buenos Dias America and detailed comments his client gave during an appearance on Venezuelan network TeleSur (h/t Mirror's Steve Robson):
"You can imagine, I was in the embassy and I said 'Diego, please don't talk about the United States'. Because the interview was with TeleSur and I know how these things go.
"And the second question was 'What do you think of Donald Trump'?
"He said 'Donald Trump is a chirolita (a slang term for dummy or puppet)?' After this, I said I'm going to have to represent you in Miami instead."
Maradona, who is currently manager of United Arab Emirates outfit Al-Fujairah, was looking to acquire a visa to travel to Miami, Florida, for a court case involving his ex-wife, Claudia Villafane.
The 1986 World Cup winner accused Villafane—his former wife of 14 years—of purchasing seven luxury apartments in Miami with money she stole from him, per Melisa Stumpf of the Daily Mail.
This isn't the first time Maradona has experienced issues with the United States authorities, either, after he was banned from the country for drug use during the 1994 World Cup.
In July 2017, Maradona told Russian television network RT (h/t Goal's Harry Sherlock): "For me, he's more of a comic. He's like a cartoon to me, if we talk about politics. ... Every time I see him on TV, I switch the channel."
Trump recently celebrated the first anniversary of his inauguration as U.S. president and has caused a major stir since succeeding Barack Obama.
Sam Levin of the Guardian recently broke down the effects of a travel ban he imposed on six Muslim-majority countries, which was approved by the Supreme Court in December.