Diego Maradona tribute aeroplane launched in Argentina ahead of World Cup

An aeroplane that will act as a flying museum in tribute to the late Diego Maradona has been unveiled in his native Argentina.

Fintech company Give and Get have financed the building of the 12-seater Tango D10S, which is adorned with pictures of the football icon’s most famous moments and carries memorabilia and shirts from his illustrious playing career.

The plane was officially presented alongside members of Maradona’s family and Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning team at a ceremony held at a military base in Moron, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening.

It is now set to visit fans in other provinces in Argentina and be taken around the world before ending up in Qatar for the World Cup later this year, which is likely to be the final chance for the 34-year-old Lionel Messi to match his great hero.

Maradona, widely considered as one of the greatest footballers of all time, died in November 2020 aged 60 after suffering a heart attack at his home in the Argentine capital, two weeks after undergoing brain surgery.

Earlier this month, the ‘Hand of God’ shirt worn by Maradona when he scored his unforgettable brace against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals in Mexico sold for over £7million at auction at Sotheby’s, having remained in the possession of former Three Lions midfielder Steve Hodge.

“I am mad about Maradona, one of those people who still watch videos of Diego before I go to sleep at night,” Give and Get CEO Gaston Kolker told Reuters after the unveiling of the Tango D10S aircraft.

“This is the first World Cup without Maradona and maybe the last with (Lionel) Messi. I said, I want to make Diego’s plane. And so we launched Tango D10S.

“When Maradona’s team-mates saw it, the World Cup winners from 1986, they were amazed, they were hypnotised by the aircraft.”