There are football stories that sound unreal. Then there’s the day Maradona and Pablo Escobar shared a football pitch.
It wasn’t in a stadium packed with fans. It wasn’t even part of a professional competition. It happened inside a prison — but not just any prison.
This is the wild crossover of football’s greatest talent and history’s most notorious drug lord.
The Day Maradona and Pablo Escobar Shared a Pitch
In 1991, Diego Maradona — at the height of his fame but also at one of the most turbulent moments in his career — received an unusual invitation.
Pablo Escobar, the Colombian cartel boss whose empire supplied 80% of America’s cocaine, wanted Maradona to visit his private prison, La Catedral.
But this wasn’t any ordinary jail. Escobar had handed himself in under the condition that he could build his own prison. The result was a fortress with waterfalls, bars, billiard rooms, and even a nightclub. And, of course, a football pitch.
Escobar adored football, and more than that, he adored Maradona. So he offered the Argentine superstar a massive fee to come play a match inside his prison walls.
Maradona said yes.
Football Behind Bars
When Maradona arrived at La Catedral, he was stunned.
“I was taken to a prison surrounded by thousands of guards,” he later recalled. “I said: ‘What the f**k is going on? Am I being arrested?!’ The place was like a luxury hotel.”
Escobar introduced himself in his office. “This is El Patrón,” someone whispered to Maradona. The Argentine, who admitted he barely followed the news at the time, claimed he had no idea who Escobar really was.
Escobar told him he loved his game. That he identified with him. That, like Diego, he had triumphed through poverty.
Then they went outside — and the match began. For one surreal afternoon, Maradona and Pablo Escobar were teammates.
The Party Nobody Could Believe
If the football match was bizarre, the aftermath was even more outrageous.
As Maradona remembered:
“Later that evening, we had a party with the best girls I’ve ever seen in my life. And it was in a prison! I couldn’t believe it. The next morning, he paid me and said goodbye.”
This was no ordinary after-match drink. Escobar’s events were infamous for ending with extravagant parties, and Maradona’s night at La Catedral was no different. The world’s most talented footballer and the world’s most feared criminal, drinking and laughing as though they were old friends.
Escobar the Football Fanatic
Escobar’s obsession with football was well-documented. Before his imprisonment, he regularly hosted exhibition matches at his private ranch, flying in professional players for hefty appearance fees.
At La Catedral, that tradition continued. Colombian internationals often came to play, but bringing in Maradona was his ultimate statement. It wasn’t just about football. It was Escobar proving that his influence reached so far that he could bring the best player in the world to his self-made prison.
And Maradona? For him, it was another wild story in a career filled with chaos, triumphs, and scandals.
Paid to Play in a Prison
This wasn’t just a friendly kickabout. Reports suggest Escobar paid Maradona a hefty “appearance fee” for showing up at La Catedral. How much? The exact number is debated, but given Escobar’s wealth, it was certainly more than most players earned in an entire season.
For Escobar, money was never the issue. What he wanted was prestige, recognition, and to live out his passion for football with the biggest names in the sport. For Maradona, who had already lived a rollercoaster of highs and lows, this was just another chapter in his wild journey.
Only Diego Could Do This
The craziest part? Maradona insisted he didn’t even know who Escobar was until after the visit.
It makes sense in a way. Maradona wasn’t the type to keep up with politics or crime stories — he lived entirely in his own orbit. To him, it was just another unbelievable experience, another memory that blurred the line between myth and reality.
That’s what makes the tale of Maradona and Pablo Escobar so unique. It wasn’t planned as some headline-making stunt. It was simply two larger-than-life figures crossing paths in the most unlikely setting imaginable.
Conclusion
The day Maradona and Pablo Escobar played football and partied together inside La Catedral is more than just a story — it’s a legend.
For Maradona, it was one more outrageous chapter in a life where the extraordinary was normal. For Escobar, it was proof that even behind bars, he could control the narrative and pull the world’s biggest stars into his world.
And for football fans? It’s one of those tales you almost can’t believe — but every word of it happened.
