Napoli — Diego Maradona's younger brother Hugo has died in Naples at the age of 52 just a year after the Argentine football legend passed away, Italian football club Napoli confirmed on Tuesday.
"Hugo Maradona has died," Napoli said in a brief statement on their website, confirming reports in the Italian press the former footballer had suffered a heart attack.
The club said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis and the team "come together around Maradona's family and unite with them in the pain of Hugo's death".
A former Argentine youth international midfielder, Hugo Maradona played in Italy, Austria, Spain, Argentina and Japan, before returning to Italy to settle there permanently and had a brief coaching career with amateur clubs in Naples.
Maradona, who had three children, recently ran on a right-wing list in municipal elections, which the left ultimately won.
Hugo Maradona was signed by Napoli in 1987 -- joining Diego -- before being loaned to Ascoli.
On September 20 of the same year, the two brothers played against each other with Diego's Napoli coming out on top 2-1.
Diego Maradona widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, passed away in November 2020, aged 60.
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AFP