The heirs of Diego Maradona They will file a lawsuit to try stop the auction of a trophy that was awarded to him after the 1986 World Cup won by Argentina, his lawyer told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The Ballon d’Or trophy that awarded the tournament’s best player had disappeared for decades after it disappeared under unclear circumstances, only to resurface later. It will be auctioned in Paris next month, auction house Aguttes said last week.
Maradona, who died in 2020 aged 60, captained Argentina to their 3-2 victory over West Germany in the 1986 final in Mexico City. Before that were the “Hand of God” goal and the “Goal of the Century” in the 2-1 victory over England in the quarterfinals. Maradona’s heirs say the trophy was stolen and claim the current owner cannot have the right to sell it. Gilles Moreu, a lawyer working at the Paradox Lawyers firm, said he would present an urgent request to the president of the judicial court in Nanterre, near Paris, to remove the Ballon d’Or from the auction. He told the AP that he will also request judicial seizure of the trophy and file a complaint for theft and concealed theft. Aguttes said the trophy reappeared in 2016 among other lots that were acquired from a private collection at an auction in Paris.
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Maradona received the award in 1986 at a ceremony at the Lido des Champs-Elysées cabaret. He later disappeared, which gave rise to rumors. Some say he got lost during a poker game or that he sold himself to pay off debts, Aguttes says. Others say Maradona kept it in a safe in a Naples bank that was robbed by local gangsters in 1989, when he was playing in the Italian league. Maradona’s heirs believe he was robbed from the bank. Moreu, who represents two of Maradona’s daughters, says the heirs recently discovered the trophy had been stolen.
The auction house defends itself
According to the lawyer, Maradona’s family wants the sale to be prohibited because they believe the Ballon d’Or belongs to them. Moreu said he was contacted by an Argentine colleague after the two daughters discussed the matter with the other heirs, who approved the sale. The auction house’s argument is that the person who bought the trophy years ago did not know it had been stolen. “If the owner of an object can claim ownership under French law, it is with the obvious condition that his good faith cannot be questioned,” the firm Paradox Lawyers said in a statement to the AP.
