Telefe creating Maradona drama set piece

The life story of legendary footballer Diego Maradona is to be told as a drama series for Argentinian network Telefe.

Telefe content director Tomas Yankelevich said he was looking to bring in more partners who could make the series “an unprecedented super-production” after signing a deal with the football icon.

Maradona will be the centrepiece of the series, which is currently untitled but will form part of Telefe’s push into ‘super-productions’. These are usually similar to long-running telenovelas, but run shorter, to between 60 and 80 episodes. No production or format details were revealed.

“Every month of my life could make 100 episodes,” said Maradona in a press release. “I am happy and enthusiastic that Telefe is developing this project for the world.”

Maradona, widely considered as one of football’s most gifted and greatest-ever players, is a national hero in Argentina.

He is credited for leading the team to the 1986 World Cup, which was held in Mexico, and also played in 1990 final, which Argentina lost to West Germany, and in the 1994 tournament in the US, where he was found to have taken drugs.

Off the pitch, he he is a larger-than-life personality and has had episodes involving drug and alcohol addiction and obesity.

“It’s an incredible challenge as a producer to think about fictionalising the life of the greatest player of all time and probably the best-known person in the world,” said Yankelevich.