Diego Maradona junior has revealed his anguish at being snubbed by his famous father.
The 21-year-old is the son of Cristiana Sinagra, a woman Maradona [pictured] had an affair with while at Napoli in the 1980s.
Although not married at the time, the World Cup '86 hero was in a very public relationship with Claudia Villafañe, who became his wife in 1989.
They were to separate amid rumours of the Pibe de Oro's infidelity and Sinagra's demands that Maradona recognise her son as his.
Speaking ahead of the release of his book, Maradona My Father, Maradona junior said: “I believe this book will come to be read for a single fundamental reason.
“So that all the fathers in the world will understand how horrific it is to abandon their children.”
Maradona junior, who plays beach soccer for the Italian national team under his mother's name, insists the book is not an attack on the Argentine legend.
“It is a true story. I do not aim to hurt my father, only to tell the truth. It is a book of affection and feeling.”
The attacking midfielder also intimated why he is releasing the book, which is co-written by Annamaria Chiariello.
“We wanted to put the record straight, because there have been many ugly things said and written about my mother and I.”
Maradona junior met his father for the first time in 2003 at a golf tournament held in Rome.
