The entrepreneur Antonio Luise is the owner of about 450 Diego Armando Maradona memorabilia. In spite of the constant offers he receives to sell the entire collection, he doesn’t give up. Instead of selling this treasure, he decided to show it to the world. He is a man who has always worked hard for success in life. He earned everything with sweat but with great satisfaction. Even if he is very busy as an entrepreneur and as a city councilor, he has spent his energies on a project that would allow everyone to see his collection. Just like the Pibe de Oro, he has scored many goals! And so in a couple of years his efforts have led to the realization of a great project.
Finally it’s official. It is named Ten- Tribute to an icon and it is the Diego Armando Maradona’s exhibition that will debut at the FIFA World Cup 2022, in Qatar. Then it will tour the world. It is an exciting event, an exhibition full of surprises, which remembers and celebrates the Pibe de Oro and which pays homage to him as an icon of world football. The exhibition is a unique experience that brings to life each object of the collection, together with the exploits of the great champion, and it does so through a mixture of entertainment and museum, which also includes unpublished photos, exclusive videos and even a virtual experience.
The Campanian entrepreneur Salvatore Luise, Antonio’s father, was a great friend of Maradona. He was always close to the champion at all times, both when Diego was on the crest of the wave and when he had difficulties in his private and professional life. That of Diego and Salvatore was a sincere friendship. They loved and respected each other as brothers so much that, on every possible occasion, the champion gifted his friend with a souvenir.
In an interview with Antonio he declares that he feels lucky to be in possession of the most important relics of the Pibe de Oro, and that he owes his father and Diego such a fortune. He claims that Maradona gave these things to his father, who passed away a few years ago, because he knew that he would make a good and respectful use of them. And, as Salvatore’s son and heir, he does the same. He recently went to Rome to meet Pope Francis to whom he donated a shirt that once belonged to the Argentine champion. He was blessed by the Holy Father. This will certainly bring good luck to the exhibition.
Antonio thus granted the management of the most important collection of relics in El Diez to a agency in Milan. Of the 450 objects, 350 will be on display. They are all certified to have belonged to Diego Armando Maradona. They are unique objects in the world, worn, kicked and used by the champion and able to tell the whole career and private life of the greatest talent in the history of football. Through a mixed experience between museum and entertainment, the exhibition provides an emotional journey that chronologically traces the main enterprises of the sample. From his origins to his most important actions.
Every single object has a story, there is his first jersey from 1969 until the last jacket he wore in 2020, passing through all the most important sporting achievements in Argentinos Juniors, Boca Junior, Barcelona, Napoli, Newell’s Old Boys, Sevilla and in particular the Argentine national team.
The collection also includes the first Argentinos, Junior and Boca Junior jersey, the Napoli and Barcelona jerseys, the one from Mexico 1986 “Mano de Dios”, the 1990 Italian World Cup and other unique pieces that cannot be found in the world. In addition to the story of a unique talent and football genius, the project will also show the genuine, pure and sensitive man, through videos, testimonies and stories told by Diego’s sons and daughters and by his closest friends like Antonio Luise. However this is not all. There are other projects in embryo. Antonio Luise is also working to realize a permanent Maradona museum in Napoli. Come back to visit us and be updated!
Watch the video Ten- Tribute to an icon below.
This video has been kindly granted by the entrepreneur Antonio Luise.
