As a football player, Diego Maradona was revered from Buenos Aires to Naples. Born in a slum, his story of success and loyalty to his family made him the subject of popular devotion. A contradictory character, he became a paradox of Latin American popular culture. An icon of the Left, and a symbol of anti-colonialism, he lived a life of capitalist excess while becoming a hero to the poor. To assess his impact on world football, his iconicity, and his likely cultural legacies, UCL Institute of the Americas brings together specialists on the history of Latin American sport and popular culture to discuss Maradona in and beyond football.

Speakers:

Brenda J. Elsey is Professor of History at Hofstra University. She is the author of 'Citizens and Sportsmen: Fútbol and Politics in Twentieth Century Chile (2011) and co-author of 'Futbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America' (2019). Her new book, 'Losing to Win: The Joy, Agony, and Politics of Sport in Latin America', is forthcoming from UNC Press.

Matthew Brown is Professor in Latin American History, University of Bristol. He is author of 'From Frontiers to Football: An Alternative History of Latin America since 1800' (2014), and co-editor of 'Connections after Colonialism: Europe and Latin America in the 1820s' (2013).

Ernesto Semán is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen (Norway), he is the author of 'Ambassadors of the Working Class: Argentina's International Labor Activists and Cold War Democracy in the Americas' (2017).

All are welcome to this free event, which will be held via Zoom but you can follow us live here.