No, This Video Is Not Of An Obese Diego Maradona Kicking A Tennis Ball

A video being shared on social media claiming to show an obese Diego Maradona juggling a tennis ball is misleading; the video is from a 2015 Hollywood movie Youth. The movie has a fictional character based on Diego Maradona.

The video, which shows a person who looks like football legend Diego Maradona, has been shared on Twitter by Punjab FC owner Ranjit Bajaj. The text of the tweet reads: "Is this actually DIEGO MARADONA - if it is him I am so shattered to see how he is now -(still got the touch ) @ILeagueOfficial @IndSuperLeague @minervapunjabfc @IndianFootball". The archive of the tweet can be found here.

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BOOM also received the video on WhatsApp.

The video has also been shared on Facebook here and on YouTube here with the false claim. The clip has also been uploaded on YouTube here and here with a misleading title. However, they state in the description that it is from the movie Youth.

Fact Check

BOOM ran a keyword search with the words "Diego Maradona tennis ball" on Google. This video, titled "The amazing way that Maradona can still kick a ball" came up on the search. The description in the video mentioned that it is from the movie Youth. BOOM looked up the cast of the movie on iMDb. Though Maradona doesn't feature in the list of characters, there are ample articles which proves that the movie features a fictionalised version of Maradona.

BOOM ran another keyword search with the words "Diego Maradona Youth movie".

Maradona is portrayed in Youth by Argentine actor Roly Serrano. Though Serrano was credited as "South American" in Youth, many articles identify his character as that of Diego Maradona. This article by Argentine website Clarin is headlined: Mirá a Roly Serrano haciendo de Maradona en la película "Juventud" (Look at Roly Serrano playing Maradona in the movie "Youth").

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Serrano shared a photos of himself playing Maradona on his Instagram account.

BOOM also found a Spanish video interview of Serrano where he talk about his role. The title of the video is: "Roly Serrano: "Firmé autógrafos como Maradona" (Roly Serrano: "I signed autographs like Maradona")

In an interview by Variety, director Paolo Sorrentino is asked about the importance of Diego Maradona in his life. The question asked is: "The dynamics between characters in "Youth" are quite clear, as are the characters themselves. But there is one character, legendary footballer Diego Armando Maradona, that not all American reviewers seem to have identified. In your Oscar speech you thanked Maradona, so he must play a pretty important part in your world."