Kerala businessman Boby Chemmanur to build museum in memory of footballer Diego Maradona
Dec 07, 2020
Kochi (Kerala) [India], December 8 : A Kerala businessman has announced that a museum will be built in the memory of Diego Maradona, with a gold sculpture of the Argentinean football legend as the main attraction.
Boby Chemmanur, the Chairman and Managing Director of Boby Chemmanur International Group, said the life-size sculpture at the proposed museum will represent 'The Hand of God', as the Argentinian forward described a crucial goal he scored in the 1986 FIFA World Cup which his team went on to win.
Addressing a press conference here, Chemmanur said, "The proposed museum will come up in Kolkata or south India. It will showcase Maradona's professional and personal life."
According to the businessman, the museum will blend the aesthetics of art and technology. The upcoming museum in several acres of land will have a gold sculpture of Maradona as its main attraction.
"I gifted Maradona a miniature gold statue of his figure. Accepting it, the soccer star expressed the desire to see his life-size gold sculpture related to 'The Hand of God'. I am extremely happy to be fulfilling that desire of Maradona," Chemmanur said.
'The Hand of God' goal was scored against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, which was eventually won by Argentina.
"The museum is my tribute to Maradona. It will be a storehouse of information related to the great player and his football. It will function as a centre for the entertainment of international standards. Maradona has always been a wonder to me -- as a footballer with no parallels and as a friend with immense warmth," Chemmanur said.
Maradona had visited Kerala for two days in October 2012 to inaugurate a showroom of Chemmannur Jewellers in Kannur.
Kerala, in which the game of football is hugely popular had declared two day official mourning on the demise of Maradona.
The Argentinian footballer, had died on November 24 in Buenos Aires at the age of 60 after a cardiac arrest days after he underwent brain surgery.
