A Colombian football fan has won the right to change his name to that of his favourite club, but only after a tortuous seven-year legal battle.
The ruling handed down on Friday by the country’s Constitutional Court allows the 55-year-old supporter to call himself Deportivo Independiente Medellin Giraldo Zuluaga.
Giraldo is Medellin’s number-one fan — he never misses a game in company with the club’s mascot, his dog, who wears the club’s red-and-blue colours … and barks to celebrate a goal.
“I’ve been waiting for my dream to be realised for seven years. I’m so happy,” said Giraldo, who has also decked his house out in Medellin colours.
“Medellin is the team I support with pride in my soul and in my heart,” he added.
“I’ve made sacrifices to get to this point. Everyone said I was mad, but finally I won. Now you can call me Deportivo Independiente Medellin, or DIM.”
Medellin put an end to a 45-year trophy famine in 2002 when lifting the Colombian league title. — AFP