Fact Check: Viral image of Pele mourning at Maradona's grave is doctored

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona passed away at his home in Buenos Aires last week after a cardiac arrest. The 1986 World Cup winner had undergone an emergency brain surgery to treat a subdural hematoma earlier in November, just days after his 60th birthday. Maradona was laid to rest in the Bella Vista cemetery on the outskirts of the capital city on Thursday and an image of Pele mourning at the Argentine's grave has gone viral on social media since then. 

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Picture of Pele mourning at Maradona's funeral goes viral on social media

Diego Maradona's funeral was a private ceremony attended only by family and close friends. Now an image of Pele has gone viral on social media, where he can be seen kneeling beside Maradona's grave with flowers. Pele and Maradona enjoyed a great personal rivalry during their playing days and were great pals off the pitch, even sharing the FIFA Player of the 20th Century award. Social media users shared the image with emotional captions, considering it Pele's final tribute to the late Argentine.

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Fact check: Picture of Pele mourning on Maradona's grave is morphed

Nonetheless, the image is highly doctored and has been found to be fake. While Pele did express his grief on Maradona's passing, he has not visited his grave and did not attend the funeral. Furthermore, the image seems to be heavily edited, with an original photo listed on British-American visual media company Getty Images. Getty is a provider of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers and the original image has been used by many websites over the years for funeral related news. 

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Fact check: Pele Maradona tribute

Brazilian legend Pele paid a heartfelt tribute to Diego Maradona on social media after the 60-year-old passed away last week. The three-time World Cup winner took to his official Twitter account and mentioned that he lost a great friend and the world lost a legend. "There is still much to be said, but for now, may God give strength to Maradona's family members," Pele said.

In a gut-wrenching statement, the 80-year-old said that one day he hoped that they can play ball together in the sky. Nonetheless, one thing can be stated for certain that Pele did not attend Maradona's funeral, which was attended by his daughters Dalma, and Giannina, by his first wife and childhood sweetheart Claudia Villafane.

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(Image Courtesy: Pele Instagram, Bishen Bedi Twitter)