Maradona

Calcutta: A grand felicitation awaits legendary footballer Diego Maradona at the Salt Lake Stadium or Eden Gardens on December 6, a day after he arrives in the city for a two-day trip.

“We’re going to make it a grand ceremony. The place must have a capacity of 1 lakh… So our obvious options are the Salt Lake Stadium or Eden Gardens,” Bhaswar Goswami, director of a city-based management firm, said after his return from Buenos Aires late on Friday evening.

“I have just returned after finalising the details of Maradona’s visit. We’re still working on the finer details and the venue will be worked out in due time,” he said.

The recently appointed national coach of Argentina will arrive in the city late on December 5 and will attend a series of programmes during the next couple of days.

The stone-laying ceremony of Indian Football School (IFS) at Maheshtala will be his top priority, Goswami said.

Maradona will also visit the Mother House, the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, on December 7 and later spend some time with kids at a city football clinic.

The Argentine who led his country to the 1986 World Cup triumph in Mexico will also meet the media for an hour.

Goswami termed his experience of meeting the living legend of football as “out of the world”.

“The one and half hours we spent with him has to be the most precious moments in our lives. It was an out of the world experience. He is an awesome person,” Goswami said.

“At the beginning he told us he could spare only about 10 minutes with us. He looked visibly tired. But once our conversation started, it went on for about 90 minutes. He sounded very excited about the prospect of coming here.”