Buenos Aires - Three funeral home workers were fired after they had posed for photos alongside the coffin of Diego Maradona just before his funeral.
Maradona died on Thursday at the age of 60, after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
Claudio Fernández confirmed to the local radio station, Radio Diez that he had lost his job at the funeral home, along with son Ismael and Diego Medina.
One of the images shows Fernández and his son – smiling, with thumbs raised – alongside the coffin. Medina appears in another image in the same pose.
“The workers were supposed to be preparing Maradona’s body for the wake when they instead stopped to pose for a picture with a thumbs up next to the coffin. The owner of Sepelios Pinier funeral parlour in Buenos Aires told local media that the three individuals were ‘outsourced employees’,” a report in news.com.au said.
Claudio had to appeal for forgiveness after the images, that got circulated on social media enraged Maradona fans who then sent him death threats.
“We were getting ready to take Diego to the wake and my son, being a typical youngster, made the thumbs up sign and had his photo taken,” he told the radio station, Radio Diez.
“I ask for everyone’s forgiveness. I’ve worked for Maradona’s father and his brother-in-law. I’ve been close to Diego while he was alive. I would never have disrespected him while he was alive because he was my idol and it was not my intention after he died.
“I know a lot of people have been very offended and have taken it badly. I know it upset them. I ask all of them to forgive us.”
Sunday Tribune