Diego Maradona "gifted happiness to the unhappiest of peoples' by leading Napoli to its first two scudetti in a peerless spell in the southern Italian city, local antimafia writer Roberto Saviano told La Stampa Thursday.
Saviano said "loneliness and weakness pushed Diego towards the Camorra and cocaine" and said he was "better than Pelé or Messi".
The Gomorra author, who lives in round-the-clock police protection after death treats from the Camorra, said Maradona, who died Wednesday at the age of 60, "was compensation for all that Naples never had.
"As much as he was a man very close to corrupt characters and terrible milieux, on the field he maintained the rule of pleasure and fair play".
The Camorra, Saviano said, "understood his weakness for drugs and prostitutes and used it to hold him hostage." The Argentina great "was a billionaire and a tax dodger, but he always considered himself at the service of the community.
"Thanks to the magic in his feet the unhappy could become happy again.
"He was born in poverty and stayed with the people." On who is the greatest footballer of all time, Saviano pointed out that "Messi does not exist without a team around him" while Maradona is credited with winning the 1986 World Cup virtually on his own.
And Pelé, Saviano noted, "played in championships without defences.
"I thought he was immortal," Saviano said of the premature death of the city's idol after a heart attack following a brain operation.
"Maradona coincides with my childhood.
"And his death marks its definitive end.
"All my happiest memories, almost all, are linked to him".
Naples is in mourning for a player who became a god in the city, reflecting his infamous 'Hand of God' goal against England in the 1986 quarterfinals, which was followed by the tournament's greatest goal ever, a mazy dribble past five or six defenders.
The city mayor has said the San Paolo stadium which was his temple will be renamed after him.
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