A funeral worker who posed for an appalling picture with Diego Maradona's open coffin has begged for forgiveness.
Claudio Fernandez was pictured next to the Argentine legend alongside his son, who made a thumbs-up gesture towards the camera.
Fernandez was fired from the funeral parlour, while another picture captured a third man - who has also been sacked - making a thumbs-up sign.
The pictures were taken as Maradona's body lay in the presidential palace and the former footballer's lawyer has vowed to take legal action against "the scoundrel" behind the camera.
"For the memory of my friend I am not going to rest until he pays for this aberration," Matias Morla added.
Fernandez said his actions were "something instantaneous" as he explained the decision to take the picture to Radio 10 .
"My son, like every kid, raised his thumb and they took the photo," he said. "I know that many people have been offended, they have taken it badly."
The three men who appeared in pictures were "outsourced employees" hired to help carry the coffin, according to Sepelios Pinier funeral parlour.
Fernandez said he had received death threats, adding: "They say they are going to kill us, break our heads."
Meanwhile, the parlour's owner Matias Picon was left "devastated" by the pictures as he had previously arranged the funerals of other members of the Maradona family.
"The family has total confidence in us, that's why we are so affected," Picon told Argentine outlet TN .
He added: "My father is 75 years old and he is crying, I am crying, my brother too, we are destroyed."
Maradona died aged 60 after suffering a cardiac arrest on Wednesday and Argentina is in the midst of three days of national mourning for their hero.
He was buried in a private ceremony in the Jardin de Paz cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Thursday.
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