The Soccer Fans Who Literally Worship Diego Maradona

In his home country of Argentina, Diego Maradona is widely considered the greatest soccer player to ever grace the sport. He is so beloved by his fans that in 1998 a group took their adoration for the athlete to the extreme and founded the Maradonian Church: a religion entirely devoted to worshipping the soccer star. Over the years, it’s blossomed into a fully-fledged movement, complete with its very own Maradona-themed prayers, baptisms, and Ten Commandments. On this episode of ‘MISCELANÉA,’ VICE met up with the founders of the Maradonian Church to hear how and why they started the religion, and how it’s grown over the years. Then we checked out a Maradonian mass to speak with a few congregants and witness a follower’s two young daughters—Mara and Dona—get baptized. WATCH NEXT: CONFIA - The Other World Cup — https://vice.video/2M7vZ1h Click here to subscribe to VICE: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE Check out our full video catalog: http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: http://vice.com More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo Click here to get the best of VICE daily: http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v Like VICE on Facebook: http://fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vice Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vice Download VICE on iOS: http://apple.co/28Vgmqz Download VICE on Android: http://bit.ly/28S8Et0