Khaberni - The name Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, has become strongly present in the global scene in the past hours, and the interest in him has not only been limited to public aspects, but also extended to the sports community, given his known connection with football and sports in general, which is an aspect that has always attracted attention in his various appearances.
Maduro is known for his great passion for football, and his clear interest in following global stars, especially the Argentine star Lionel Messi, whom he has openly expressed great sadness about when Messi left Barcelona in 2021, considering it a poignant moment in the history of modern football.
During a press conference held in 2021 to celebrate Olympic athletes in Venezuela, Maduro did not hide his emotion about Messi's departure from the Catalan team, where he spoke passionately about the player's farewell scene, describing it as a symbol of sports excellence and success, in a clear statement about his emotional attachment to the game and its stars.
And it was not the only incident that showed Maduro’s admiration for Messi, for in 2016, while he was delivering a speech inside the Venezuelan Parliament, he received news of Messi scoring a goal with Barcelona in the Spanish league, interrupting his speech with a spontaneous response that celebrated the Argentine star and Catalonia, in a moment that many considered an indication of his constant mental engagement with football.
Maduro’s connection with football also extended to his relationships with legends of the game, as he appeared in 2017 playing football with the late Diego Maradona in Caracas, in a scene that merged politics and sports, where Maduro gifted Maradona a Venezuelan national team jersey bearing the number 10, as a symbolic gesture towards one of the greatest to ever play the game.
Besides appearing with global stars, numerous pictures have spread of Maduro playing football with children in the streets and fields of Venezuela, reflecting his interest in promoting sports at the community level, and his engagement with it as a means of communication and joy, away from formalities.
The presence of football in Maduro’s life is not only limited to following and playing it, but it also sometimes appears in his descriptions of public figures, as he has previously compared some global leaders to football stars, using the language of the fields to express his vision, reaffirming the extent to which sports are intertwined in his everyday culture and public presence.
