Maradona launches charity jewellery shop at NU Sentral

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona and his Indian jeweller Boby Chemmanur launched their 37th jewellery outlet, Boby & Maradona Gold Diamond Jewellery on Saturday.

Maradona, dressed in a blue jersey with Indian movie star Karisma Kapoor officiated the shop, the first in South-East Asia at the NU Sentral shopping mall here.

About 1,000 people gathered at the mall to catch a glimpse of the football icon and the Bollywood actress.

Meanwhile, Chemmanur, the chairman and managing director of Chemmanur International Jewellers, said the jewellery shop was a charity shop where profits from the sale of gold and diamonds would be channelled to Malaysian charity homes.

"We will not accept donations directly, you will have to buy the gold and diamonds to donate," he told reporters after the launch of the shop.

He said with Maradona involved in charity, it naturally inspired others to also donate to charity.

Chemmanur said the company which had outlets in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and mostly in India had choosen Malaysia for its first outlet in the region because Malaysians were known to be "very good and charity-minded."

Maradona, who began as brand ambassador for the Boby Chemmanur International Group later became Boby's business partner and started the Boby & Maradona Gold Diamond Jewellery shop.