A funeral parlor has fired and apologized for the body of Argentine football icon Diego Maradona lying in Buenos Aires.
The images, which were widely shared online, sparked international outrage – including death threats.
Claudio Fernandez said Radio Ten On Friday he lost his job at the final home of Chaplios Pioneer with his son Ismail and a third person.
In one picture, a man is seen giving a thumbs up to the camera with one hand, while the other appears to be touching the forehead of a hidden World Cup winner, The 60-year-old died of a heart attack at his home on Wednesday.
The third funeral worker appears in another photo in the same pose.
1:27
Mr Fernandez said they did not plan to take the photo. “It was an immediate thing, I raised my head and my son did just like any other 18-year-old,” he told the radio station.
Maradona, who made his professional debut with the Argentine juniors in 1976, said he had received threats from others living in his father’s neighborhood.
“They know me, I belong in the neighborhood,” he said. “They say they’m going to kill us and break our heads.”
He said he knew the footballer’s family and that it was not his intention to show any insult and apologize to everyone.
The club issued a statement saying it was considering expelling Mr Fernandes from its members.
0:55
The trio hired Maradona’s body to prepare and carry the coffin during the funeral, according to an Argentine television channel. D.N..
It said manager Matthias Beacon was “devastated” and that all three were not directly hired by them and that they were “outsourced” by third parties.
Mr Beacon said D.N.: “The family trusted us. We have been working with them for a long time. My father is 75 years old. He cries. I cry. My brother and I are destroyed.”
0:32
Expressing his anger on Twitter, Maradona’s lawyer, Matthias Morla, wrote on Friday: “I personally look forward to discovering the fraud that took that photo.
“I will not rest until I pay for such a variation in the memory of my friend. All those responsible for such a cowardly act will pay.”
Thousands of fans lined the streets of the city In order to pay homage to the football legend, many were provoked by the inability to see the coffin.
Only family members and close friends attended the funeral, and Maradona was buried near the graves of his parents, Dolma and Diego.
