On Wednesday, a French court upheld an appeal from Diego Maradona’s heirs to halt the planned auction of the Golden Ball trophy awarded to the late Argentine legend as the best player of the 1986 World Cup.
According to L’Equipe sports paper, the Versailles appeal court overturned a previous ruling that allowed the auction to proceed despite opposition from two of Maradona’s daughters due to an ownership dispute.
The Versailles court ordered the sequestration of the trophy until a final ownership decision is made.
The trophy had been missing for decades, allegedly stolen from a safe in a Naples bank in 1989 when Maradona was playing for Napoli. It resurfaced in 2016 when a collector unknowingly purchased it along with other trophies for a small sum. Two expert reports later confirmed it was the 1986 Golden Ball trophy, prompting Maradona’s daughters to claim ownership as heirs and assert that it could not be auctioned off.
Maradona led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, winning the final 3-2 against West Germany.
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