Diego Maradona’s Body To Be Exhumed Over Legal Battle

Diego Maradona's supposed son has demanded the exhumation of the soccer legend’s body.

Santiago Lara instructed his lawyer to make the sensational move less than 24 hours after the former Naples and Barcelona star was buried.

Jose Nunez has lodged a bombshell written request demanding Maradona’s autopsy, DNA results and the exhumation of his body so it can be transferred to a court morgue.

Mr Nunez made filed the request with a family court in Santiago’s home city of La Plata – just south of Buenos Aires.

It is the latest development in Santiago's attempts to prove he is the legitimate son of the former footballer.

Last night, Mr Nunez went on Argentinian TV to air his demand.

It follows a long and frustrating battle by Santiago to find out who his real father is, which began in 2014 when he was just 13 and saw a magazine front cover with Maradona’s face on it and his pixellated underneath.

Santiago, the supposed sixth child of a the former forward, spoke for the first time four years ago of his fight.

The youngster’s waitress mum Natalia Garat died aged 23 from lung cancer in 2006 following an alleged seven year on-off relationship with Maradona.

The football officially has five children including two he took years to recognise as his.

Natalia’s ex-boyfriend Marcelo Lara raised Santiago as his own son.

The teenager instructed his lawyer to start legal action to prove he was Maradona’s son while the retired footballer was alive after failed attempts to reach an amicable settlement with the star’s legal team.

His lawyer, in another interview on an Argentinian TV show which he attended with a colleague but not Santiago, added: “We’re talking about a young lad who has been left in the dark about who he really is.

“Santiago didn’t come here today because he’s suffering emotionally. Not only does he not know who he is but he couldn’t say goodbye to his father.”

The four-page document filed by the lawyer and his partner Juan Benitez demands the exhumation and preservation of Diego Maradona’s body until DNA tests can be carried out “so Santiago Lara can obtain his true identity”.

It says the teenager found out about the former footballer’s death through the media and it caused him “great pain, worry, suffering and anguish.”

The document, submitted to La Plata Family Court Number Seven, adds on the third of the four pages: “We ask you to submit through the chain of custody, the detailed results of the autopsy and lifeless body of Diego Armando Maradona.

“We request the sealing of the coffin containing Diego Armando Maradona’s body so it can be transferred to La Plata’s judicial morgue for its preservation.”

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Santiago told local media in a video interview he learned Maradona was his alleged father when he was 13.

This article was most recently revised and updated 5 years ago ago