Guillermo Coppola on Diego Maradona, a love without sex and a lifetime of turbulence | OneFootball

As a new court case into the circumstances of Diego Maradona’s death is due in mid April, Guillermo Coppola looks back on a partnership he calls a love without sex. The former agent, now 77, says he speaks about Diego every day and that they remain bound.

According to L'Équipe, Coppola no longer represents players but advises clubs and footballers through his company, helps develop the Copa Argentina and remains a media fixture, with Disney+ preparing a second season of Coppola, el representante.

From a modest Buenos Aires upbringing, he worked young, moved into banking, then eased into football by guiding Boca Juniors players on finances. He sealed his first transfer in 1974 and says he later handled up to 183 clients.

Maradona was initially managed by Jorge Cyterszpiler, who took him to Barcelona in 1982 and Napoli in 1984. Coppola joined in October 1985 after accepting exclusivity, then rode the 1986 World Cup and multiple trophies with Napoli. He recalls Camorra shadows and a bullet mark on his Mercedes, and says Diego, while difficult, was not unmanageable and suffered badly from cocaine.

The pair split in 1990. In the mid 90s Coppola was accused of murder, tax evasion and narcotrafficking, spending 97 days in jail before being freed and later cleared, which he calls a set up. They parted again in 2003, reconciled at the 2018 World Cup, and after Maradona’s death on 25 November 2020 Coppola says the family asked him to help carry the coffin.

Source: L'Équipe