'Ciao Diego:' Napoli bid farewell to club legend Maradona

Milan (AFP) – Napoli on Wednesday bid farewell to Diego Maradona, who won the hearts of the southern Italian city of Naples by leading them to their only two league titles in 1987 and 1990.

“For always. Ciao Diego,” the club wrote with a blue heart emoji shortly after the news broke that the Argentine had died of a heart attack aged 60.

As a sign of mourning, Napoli changed the blue background colour of its club logo on their social media accounts to black.

Maradona spent seven years at the then-unfashionable Napoli between 1984 and 1991, during which he also lifted the 1989 UEFA Cup, Napoli’s only European trophy.

Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora, a native of Naples, also paid tribute to Maradona.

“The death of Maradona is terrible news. He was more than a champion, he was a football genius, an absolute champion,” Spadafora said. 

“In an unrepeatable season he represented the dreams and hopes of the people of my city. Naples is crying tonight.”