Nanterre, France: Diego Maradona's heirs have taken legal action in France to block the controversial sale of the Argentine football legend's 'Golden Ball' trophy from the 1986 Mexico World Cup. The trophy given to the tournament's best player had been missing for decades before being found by an antique dealer in the French capital. It is due to be sold by Aguttes auction house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, close to Paris on June 6.
Lawyers for the family of Maradona, who died in 2020 aged 60 years, argued that the latest piece of memorabilia from the player's glittering career which is expected to fetch millions, rightly belongs to his five heirs. In 2022, Maradona's Argentina jersey from the 1986 tournament sold for close to $9.3 million, while the "Hand of God" ball from the quarter-final against England sold for $2.
4 million later that year. According to the Maradona family, the trophy given to their father in November 1986 at the Lido Cabaret in Paris, was stolen during a bank robbery three years later in Naples. The player's family claim they only discovered a few weeks ago that it was to be auctioned and immediately took legal action to try to reclaim it.
"The family aims to recover this ball, the Argentine people want to recover this ball," lawyer Lola Chunet told a court in Nanterre, outside Paris. Lawyer Arthur Gaulier, representing Aguttes, argued: "Attempting 35 years after an alleged theft, to claim property without ever having filed a complaint, is an opportunistic app.
