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The heirs of Diego Maradona have launched legal action in France to block the controversial sale of the Ballon d’Or trophy awarded to the legendary Argentine footballer at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, following Argentina’s second World Cup title and his election as the world’s best player.
Diego Armando Maradona was named the world’s best player after the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Under the guidance of coach Carlos Bilardo, the Pibe de Oro (Golden Boy) was crowned world champion and best player on Aztec soil after a disappointing and scandal-ridden 1982 tournament in Spain.
After beating Germany 3-2 in the final, led by football legend Franz Beckenbauer, the player considered by many to be the greatest of all time (as voted at the end of the 20th century, although Messi did not make his debut until years later) not only lifted the trophy, but also won the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament at Mexico 1986.
Maradona had a near-perfect World Cup. He had a hand in 10 of Argentina’s 14 goals, scoring five and assisting five in seven matches. He was the tournament’s top assisting player, the captain and the soul of the Albiceleste.
In addition to these achievements, “El Diego” (as Maradona is affectionately known in Argentina, even after his death) holds the record for the most fouls conceded and the most dribbles completed in a World Cup, both of which still stand, according to the official statistics provided by the Conmebol portal.
Undoubtedly the most memorable match of the 1986 World Cup was the quarter-final against England, when Maradona scored twice and played a perfect game against the English. Seven shots (three on target), five chances created, seven fouls committed and 12 dribbles completed; all match highs (surpassed only by himself against Belgium).
However, the cold statistics would not be the same without the most beautiful goal in World Cup history. In the 55th minute, the Argentine genius dribbled through the heat, the Mexican altitude and, of course, five English players (Hoddle, Reid, Butcher, Fenwick and goalkeeper Shilton) on a 68-metre run to score the goal that crowned him “the genius of world football”.
After the coronation and the presentation of the Ballon d’Or, the trophy symbolising the former Boca Juniors player’s exploits at Mexico ’86 disappeared. It was lost for decades before being found by an antiques dealer in the French capital.
After confirming its provenance, it was put up for sale and is due to be auctioned by the Aguttes auction house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, on 6 June.
Lawyers for Maradona’s family will try to stop the sale at the auction house, but they also face a major challenge as the trial for the death of the Argentine star, who died in unexplained circumstances in 2020 at the age of 60, is due to begin on 4 June. Eight people, including his personal physician, the neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, the psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and the clinical doctor Di Spagna, are being charged with premeditated murder, which carries a sentence of between 8 and 25 years.
The lawyers claim that Maradona’s heirs, his five legitimate children (Dalma, Yanina, Jana, Dieguito Fernando and Diego Junior), are the rightful owners of the memorable statuette.
In 2022, Maradona’s 1986 World Cup jersey sold for nearly $9.3 million, while the “Hand of God” ball from the quarter-final match against England sold for $2.4 million (€2.2 million) later that year.
According to Maradona’s family, the trophy presented to their father at the Lido Cabaret in Paris in November 1986 was stolen during a bank robbery in Naples three years later, along with other belongings of the former Barcelona, Napoli and Sevilla player in Europe.
The player’s family claim they only found out about the auction a few weeks ago and immediately took legal action to try and get it back.
“The family wants to get this ball back, the Argentine people want to get this ball back,” lawyer Lola Chunet told a court in Nanterre, outside Paris.
In turn, lawyer Arthur Gaulier, representing Aguttes, argued: “Trying to claim property 35 years after an alleged theft, without ever having filed a complaint, is an opportunistic approach that justice cannot tolerate.”
On Thursday, lawyers for the auction house and the trophy seller claimed that the Maradona family had failed to provide proof of a complaint filed at the time, which is why the auction will go ahead unless the court orders otherwise.
Maximilien Aguttes, director of the auction house, said one of the “legends” circulating about the trophy was that Maradona had left it at the Lido on the night it was awarded.
The antiques dealer who acquired the trophy said he bought it at an auction in 2016 “in the same hardware lot” of hundreds of trophies, most of them of little value. “He bought it for 500 euros excluding fees,” the seller’s lawyer, Marine Le Bihan, explained, at a price that valued each trophy at €1.20, before realising that one could be Maradona’s Ballon d’Or.
In addition to the trophy holder’s claims, a lawsuit has been filed and the court will decide on 30 May whether the auction of the ‘Golden Ball’ of the footballer who came through the youth ranks of Argentinos Juniors and enjoyed his moment of glory in the 1980s, especially with modest Napoli (Serie A titles in 1986/87 and 1989/90, an Italian Cup in 1986/87 and a UEFA Cup in 1988/89) and the Argentine national team (with which he finished runner-up in 1990) can go ahead.
The trophy has nothing to do with the Ballon d’Or awarded by France Football magazine to the best player of the year, as at that time the French magazine only awarded the prize to players born in Europe.
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