Visions of Maradona: A Liar, a Cheat, Un Cocaïnomane, Un Dealer. UK and France Regarding a Latin American Player.

This article analyzes the initial British and French media coverage of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona's death on November 25, 2020, highlighting how both countries' press framed his life and career through persistent racialized and cultural stereotypes. Drawing on sociological and philosophical theories—including Erving Goffman's concept of stigma, Claude Grignon and Jean-Claude Passeron's notion of miserabilism, and Gilles Deleuze's reading of Baruch Spinoza on regret—the study reveals that British media often depicted Maradona as an excessive, drug-addicted "South American" figure marked by moral failings, while French media struggled to comprehend his political affiliations and portrayed him as a tormented, problematic icon tied to a "poor nation." Despite decades of decolonizing efforts, these portrayals reflect enduring colonial and racial gazes that emphasize Maradona's otherness and excess rather than his complex identity and cultural significance. The article suggests that Maradona's representation in Global North media continues to expose broader patterns of symbolic domination and racialized perceptions of Latin American figures in international sports and culture.