In 1989, a trophy belonging to Diego Maradona, the “Golden Ball”, was stolen. Years later, it resurfaced at an auction and is now set to be auctioned off again. But the football legend’s family wants it for themselves.
The children of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, who died in 2020, are taking legal action in France against the controversial auction of the “Golden Ball” trophy. “The family wants to get this ball back, the Argentine people want to get this ball back,” said lawyer Lola Chunet on Thursday in a court in Nanterre near Paris. The court will decide on May 30 whether the auction can take place.
The lawyers argued that the latest memorabilia from the Argentinean exceptional player’s glittering career, which is expected to bring in millions, belongs to his five heirs. A jersey of the football idol from the 1986 World Cup went under the hammer in May 2022 for 9.3 million dollars (8.6 million euros). Maradona and his team won the 1986 World Cup.
In 1986, Diego Maradona received the “Golden Ball”
In the same year, he was honored as the best player of the tournament at the Lido revue theater in Paris. According to his family, the trophy was stolen three years later during a bank robbery in Naples. The trophy is not the same as the “Ballon d’Or,” which is awarded by the magazine “France Football” to the best European football player of the year.
The trophy was thought to be lost for decades. In 2016, it resurfaced at an auction in Paris and was purchased by an antique dealer for 500 euros. Maradona’s children say they only found out a few weeks ago about the planned auction by the Aguttes auction house on June 6 in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris. The auction house rejected the claim.
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His lawyers described the family’s declared claim to the trophy “35 years after an alleged theft” as an “opportunistic approach” because no complaint was ever filed. The relatives did not provide any evidence of a lawsuit filed at the time.
Source: Stern
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