Maradona's Golden Ball Found: To Be Auctioned In Paris

Dfter 35 years since the nightmare of the robbery in the vault of the Bank of the Province of Naples, Diego Maradona's "Golden Ball", thought to be lost by the Camorra men, has re-emerged, safe and sound, in a series of daring transfers that took it all the way to Paris.

On June 6, the precious trophy, awarded to Maradona as the best player of the 1986 World Cup, will be auctioned by the auction house “Aguttes” in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the north-west of the French capital.

The news is reported by Gigi Di Fiore in Il Mattino on newsstands today, who explains how Maradona's Ballon d'Or was discovered in France.

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The lucky discovery was made on January 28, 2016 by Abdelhamid B., a 58-year-old French-Algerian gallery owner and former jeweler, who made a series of deals at the Hôtel Drouot in Montmartre.

Among a myriad of objects, including rifles and Tibetan shields, he noticed a box containing over 150 sports trophies, including a Golden Boot and a Golden Ball. Initially, he believed that it was the award given to Johan Cruyff in 1974, but further investigation led him to discover the true identity of the trophy.

After seven years of research, contacts with sports experts and several attempts to contact Maradona directly, the gallery owner decided to turn to the auction house “Aguttes”. A 3D appraisal confirmed that the trophy found is the same Golden Ball raised by Maradona in Paris in 1986.

The story of Maradona's Golden Ball is well known: it was stolen during a robbery in the vault of the Bank of the Province of Naples on October 26, 1989. The robbery was carried out by specialists from the Misso clan of the Sanità district. Maradona turned to the Lo Russo clan to recover it and was told it had been melted down and converted into ingots.

However, the trophy has resurfaced, and is now preparing to return to the spotlight at the Paris auction. It is estimated that it could be worth between 12 and 15 million euros, but its symbolic and historical value far exceeds its market price.