A trophy won by Diego Maradona for his performances at the 1986 World Cup has resurfaced after it was missing for decades – and is now going up for auction.
Maradona received the Golden Ball trophy after leading Argentina to victory at the tournament in Mexico, where he scored his controversial “hand of God” goal against England in the quarter-finals.
In the same game, he also scored what FIFA later declared the greatest goal in World Cup history.
Maradona – who died in 2020 at the age of 60 – was awarded the Golden Ball trophy for being the best player at the tournament during a ceremony in Paris in 1986.
However, the award mysteriously disappeared and its whereabouts were unknown for decades.
Maradona’s infamous ‘hand of God’ goal. Pic: Aguttes Auction House
Now Aguttes auction house says it will go under the hammer next month in Paris, with the trophy expected to “fetch millions due to its uniqueness”.
The trophy’s disappearance gave rise to rumours that it was lost during a wild poker game or sold to pay off debts, Aguttes said.
Others claimed that Maradona had stored the trophy in a safe in a Naples bank that was robbed by local gangsters in 1989, when he played for Napoli in Italy.
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According to one story by a reformed member of the mafia, the trophy was allegedly then melted down into gold pieces.
But Aguttes said this was a “far-fetched theory given that it was made of a gold-copper alloy”.
The auction house said the trophy reappeared in 2016 among other lots that were acquired from a private collection at auction in Paris.
“It was thoroughly investigated and authenticated as Diego Maradona’s Adidas Golden Ball trophy,” Aguttes said.
Bidders will be asked to make a deposit of €150,000 (£129,000) to take part in the 6 June auction.
