By Sergio Silva
02 Jun 2024, 2:45 PM EDT
The auction of the Ballon d’Or won by Diego Armando Maradona in 1986 after winning the World Cup in Mexico, it was suspended indefinitely as announced this Sunday by the Parisian auction house, Aguttes, in charge of carrying out the bidding.
According to a report from the EFE news agency, the decision to suspend the auction was made in the midst of the controversy that arose after accusations made by Dalma and Gianinna, daughters of the former Argentine soccer player, who allege that said Ball Gold is a “stolen good”.
The family of Diego Armando Maradona, who died in 2020, maintains the hypothesis that the trophy in question was stolen from a bank in Naples more than 40 years ago. After that moment nothing more was heard about the prize until 2016 when it was acquired by whoever now wants to auction it.
Despite the position of those close to “El Pelusa”, the French authorities determined that the Aguttes auction house can continue with the auction process for the Ballon d’Or, which was initially scheduled for next Thursday but is now not possible. It is known when it will take place.
The organizers of the event, through a statement, invited those interested in the auction to stay in touch so that they can be kept informed of when they will be able to choose to buy the precious collector’s trophy that could cost more than $15 million. Dollars.
According to the Judicial Court of Nanterre, in Paris, the seller acted “good faith” when he bought the Ballon d’Or at a second-category auction without knowing that he was acquiring the trophy that Diego Maradona had received in 1986, so he authorized Aguttes to continue with his auction.
According to Gilles Moreu, lawyer for the former Argentine soccer player’s family, the price paid at that auction in 2016 was less than $3 dollars. In addition, he pointed out that he is in contact with the lawyer who accompanied Maradona’s partner at that time, Claudia Villafañe, to report the theft.
The French authorities announced that they are carrying out an investigation to determine if there was a crime of “concealment of a stolen object” by the current owner of the Ballon d’Or who after three years of acquiring it, as there was no claim of theft, it became his legally.
The Ballon d’Or that Diego Armando Maradona won in 1986 could end up becoming one of the most valuable collector’s items in the world, which is why many expectations have been generated around the auction that the Aguttes house was to carry out next week.
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