After an Epic Meltdown, an Argentine Soccer Star Is Remade on TV
In his prime, Diego Maradona was the greatest soccer player of his generation. Now, after a lost decade in which the Argentine star generated headlines mainly for his drug abuse and misbehavior off the field, he is reinventing himself as a television showman.
Since August, Mr. Maradona has been the host of a live, weekly 21/2-hour show called 'Ten's Night.' The name refers both to Mr. Maradona's uniform number and the starting time of the program, a gaudy hodgepodge of television genres mixing talk show, game show, variety show and even reality show elements, with a dollop of ESPN's 'Sports Center.'
Mr. Maradona is almost never off-camera, apparently one of the main attractions for a viewing public that has followed his every step and misstep since he first emerged from the slums here some 25 years ago. The magazine Gráfico has gone so far as to call his program 'the most important television show in the world,' a typically reverential description in line with the nicknames, like 'God' and 'the Golden Child,' that Argentines have bestowed on him.
'The real show was to be able to finally contemplate a Diego Maradona who is whole,' the critic Marcelo Moreno wrote in the daily Clarin after the first broadcast. 'We have learned to fear and suffer for him, for what has happened to him and for what might happen to him.'
Mr. Maradona, who turned 45 on Sunday, led Argentina to a World Cup victory in 1986 with a slashingly exciting and creative style of play that made him as renowned an international sports celebrity as Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan. But he became a heavy user of cocaine while playing in Italy in the early 1990's, was suspended after failing a drug test, never quite regained his spectacular form and retired for good in 1997 after a coaching stint.
In recent years, as Argentines watched and worried, he largely drifted. Though he published a best-selling tell-all autobiography in 2000, called 'I Am the Diego,' he has been in and out of various drug detoxification centers, mainly in Cuba, where he became a friend and outspoken supporter of Fidel Castro.
Just last year, after his weight ballooned to about 300 pounds, Mr. Maradona was hospitalized here after a heart attack said to have been caused by cocaine use and overeating, and doctors said he had nearly died. But he had a gastric bypass operation in March, and has lost more than 110 pounds to get back to something resembling his playing weight.
As a player, Mr. Maradona, who once fired a compressed-air rifle at pesky reporters, had a reputation for being uncooperative in interviews and for agreeing to talk only if handsomely paid. But he appears to have learned a lot about the art of the interview, and in his move from answering to asking questions has proved surprisingly deft, adopting a style probing and humorous.
During each program, Mr. Maradona interviews one of his half-dozen guests, most of whom come from Latin American show business or sports, for a segment called 'Mano a Mano.' On his first show, it was his Brazilian rival Pelé, but on Oct. 17, using video tricks, Mr. Maradona interviewed himself and frankly discussed his drug use, his rehabilitation, an illegitimate child he fathered in Italy and his political beliefs.
Tonight, Mr. Maradona's interview segment will be with Mr. Castro, who spoke with him in Havana last week. During the interview, Mr. Maradona calls the Cuban dictator 'a god' and President Bush 'a murderer,' and vowed to lead demonstrations against Mr. Bush when the president arrives in Argentina for a conference with Latin American heads of state next weekend.
'Bush disdains us, he walks all over us, and yet we have to be at his feet,' Mr. Maradona said in an interview with Cuban state television. 'We don't want that story, we have to repudiate his presence.'
He has also tried his luck as a singer and dancer, with mixed results. Though he has has trouble carrying a tune, his natural athleticism serves him well on a dance floor, and any lapses have tended to be lost in the sea of silicone and hair extensions employed by the female dance troupe that accompanies him.
For Argentines, part of the appeal of 'Ten's Night' is the presence of Mr. Maradona's family and the constant soap opera drama that clings to them. His parents sit in the invited live audience of less than 200, along with some of his brothers and sisters, and his two teenage daughters are down on the floor of the stage of the program with his ex-wife, Claudia Villafane, who divorced him last year after 15 years of marriage.
Mr. Maradona has not hesitated to use his show to try to recapture his former wife's heart, and gossip magazines here are full of talk of a reconciliation. With cameras rolling and eyes misting, he calls her 'the love of my life,' apologizes to her for his drug use and sexual infidelities and has also granted her an important role in producing the program.
The reasons for Mr. Maradona's willingness to expose his private life and personal failings been the subject of unceasing speculation.
'Maradona has always been on display, and has a history of saying whatever he thinks, even if that might shock or offend some people,' Pablo Codevilla, director of the program, said when the issue was raised during an interview here. 'He's accustomed to being on exhibition, everyone knows his personal history, and so this is not difficult for him.'
Mr. Codevilla was the only executive associated with the program or its network, Channel 13, who was made available for an interview, and the network would not allow a photographer on the program's set. An interview with Mr. Maradona was also scheduled, but was canceled, without explanation, one hour before it was to take place.
Since it went on the air in August, 'Ten's Night' has dominated its Monday night time slot, with ratings reaching as high as a 40 share. It is also broadcast in other countries with strong soccer traditions, among them Spain, Mexico and Italy.
Ratings have declined somewhat recently, as the stock of local celebrities for him to interview has been exhausted and the program's novelty has worn off. But ratings are still running in the mid-20's, with occasional peaks into the 30's when an especially interesting guest shows up.
Mr. Maradona initially signed to do a cycle of 13 programs, and plans to take a rest when his contract expires. According to press accounts here, he receives about $30,000 per program. But Mr. Codevilla said that Channel 13 was eager to have him back as soon as possible and on whatever terms he likes.
'It's all depends on Maradona,' he said. 'To have someone like him, with a personality as strong as his, is not something ordinary for television. He is a historical figure, a true idol who has put his whole life and soul into this program, so we have to take care of him in the manner which he deserves.'