“The best known Argentine in the world” might be heading to Argentinian wallets.
Argentine Senator, Norma Durango, presented a project to Argentina’s Congress on Monday, to put the late soccer legend, Diego Maradona, image on the country’s bank notes, and possibly get his ‘Hand of God’ image on a 1,000-peso note.
The note would feature Maradona’s face on one side, and an image of his most famous goals from the 1986 World Cup semifinal. According to Monday’s exchange rate, the note would be worth about $12.27 USD. The note would replace the current 1,000 peso note which features the national bird, the Rufuos hornero.
“The idea is not just to recognize our most important idol but also to think of the economic question,” said Durango. According to her, this might bolster some tourism as well because she feels that when tourists go to Argentina, they “will want to take a ‘Maradona’ away with them.”
The project has been met with some dissent among Argentines who question the idea of putting the “Hand of God” goal because it might be seen as condoning illegality. Maradona’s two most famous goals came during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England. The first was scored by punching the ball past England’s goalkeeper and the second was achieved by dribbling past half the England team to score what is still considered one of the greatest goals of all time.
“The idea is to recognize Maradona, for good and for bad, who is the best known Argentine in the world,” Durango said.