Fans clash with police as thousands bid farewell to Maradona

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Tens of thousands of fans, eager to honour Diego Maradona, filed past the coffin of Argentina’s most iconic soccer star on Thursday.

Fans blew kisses as they passed Maradona’s wooden casket in the main lobby of the presidential Casa Rosada, some hit their chests with closed fists, shouting: “Let’s go Diego.”

It was the sort of honour usually given heads of state, but few heads of state have ever aroused such loyalty or passion.

On the street, the line to see Maradona’s casket stretched for more than 20 blocks. Disturbances broke out at least twice as fans eager to view the casket clashed with security forces in front of presidential palace, interrupting the flow of visitors.

The casket was covered in an Argentine flag and the

No. 10 shirt Maradona famously wore for the national team. Dozens of other shirts of different teams tossed in by weeping visitors were scattered on and around the casket.

Maradona died on Wednesday of a heart attack in a house outside Buenos Aires where he had been recovering from brain surgery on Nov. 3.

Open visitation started at 6:15 a.m. after a few hours of privacy for family and close friends.

Then came former teammates of the 1986 World Cup-winning squad including Oscar Ruggeri.

Other Argentine footballers, such as Boca Juniors’ Carlos Tévez, showed up, too.

Fans grew impatient as police tried to maintain order, throwing bottles and pieces of metal fencing at police outside the presidential offices in the heart of Buenos Aires. Officers used tear gas to try to control them.

Clashes again broke out in the early afternoon as police fired rubber bullets at fans trying to force their way ahead.

Argentina President Alberto Fernández had appeared at midday and placed on the casket a shirt of Argentinos Juniors, Maradona’s first club as a professional.

In tears, Fernández laid two handkerchiefs of the human rights organization Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who wore them for years to protest the disappearance of their children under the Argentina’s military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983.

Maradona, an outspoken leftist, was a friend of the Madres and of other human rights organizations.

The lines started forming outside the Casa Rosada only hours after Maradona’s death was confirmed.

The first fan to visit was Nahuel de Lima, 30, using crutches to move because of a disability.

“He made Argentina be recognized all over the world — who speaks of Maradona also speaks of Argentina,” de Lima said. “Diego is the people.”