The “stolen” Golden Ball trophy awarded to Diego Maradona after being named the best player at the 1986 World Cup, has mysteriously been found.
Reports indicate that it will be auctioned off in France on June 6, 2024, after an auction house named Aguttes, announced on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, that the item had resurfaced.
The item is expected to be sold for “millions”, and Maradona, who died in 2020, won the award after guiding Argentina to a World Cup triumph in Mexico.
Aguttes Auction House Sports Expert Lifts Lid On The Golden Ball And How It Mysteriously Appeared
Francois Thierry, the Aguttes auction house sports expert, shared his thoughts on the Golden Ball being found, saying:
“There are a lot of stories and legends, like it was stolen by the mafia to make gold. We did all the necessary checks and called the police about it.”
Thierry indicated that the Aguttes auction house has been in possession of the ball for about a year, and they have done worthy research in scrutinizing if the Golden Ball was actually good.
He said: “We have had the ball for about one year. We did a lot of research about it since there are a lot of details in terms of manufacturer comments until we could say it was a good one.”
The Golden Ball was acquired by the anonymous seller in 2016 at an auction house in France, but he was unaware of the item he had bought.
Francois Thierry additionally expressed that the anonymous seller did acquire many trophies and upon seeing the Golden Ball, he did some research to see what it could be. Thierry also shared that the unnamed individual tried to contact Diego Maradona and FIFA, but his attempt was unsuccessful.
Francois Thierry said: “He bought it with many other things, at the beginning he did not know it was something important.
“In the case he bought there were a lot of trophies. He then searched on the internet and found it could be the Golden Ball.
“He tried to call Maradona and Fifa, but had no luck.”
“Hand Of God”, “Goal Of The Century” – Diego Maradona Was Menacing At The 1986 World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup is fondly remembered for the two goals Diego Maradona scored against England in the quarter-finals.
Maradona rose higher than English goalie Peter Shilton to punch his first goal into the net with a raised fist, a goal which was later described by the Argentine as being scored by the “Hand of God”.
Diego Maradona’s second goal in the game was magical, with the late footballer dribbling past five English players from his half before putting the ball into the back of the net.
The goal was voted as the “Goal of the Century” in a Fifa poll. Meanwhile, the jersey the Napoli great wore that day, and the ball from the game, have been sold at auction for millions.
Francois Thierry On How Much The Golden Ball of Diego Maradona Could Cost?
Speaking on how much the Golden Ball could fetch, Francois Thierry said:
“We can see there were some results from before when his jersey against England in 1986 being sold for I think £9m and the ball of the game went for £2m, so we expect millions.”
Maradona played for several clubs in his career, including; Napoli, Barcelona, and Sevilla FC.
Diego Maradona scored 159 goals and provided 103 assists in 343 club career appearances across all competitions.
Internationally, Maradona made 84 appearances for Argentina, scoring 32 goals and providing 20 assists.
The Argentine won many trophies in his career, including; 1 FIFA World Cup, 3 League titles (2 Serie A and 1 Argentine Primera División), alongside 1 UEFA Cup.
