Maradona's lost Golden Ball to be auctioned off

For more than a quarter of a century Diego Maradona's Ballon d'Or, which he received for being named the best player at the 1986 World Cup, was thought to have been lost, but soon after it was found, the award will have a new owner.

That the award is for sale was announced by the auction house Aguttes, which will conduct the auction. The starting price of this lot is not disclosed, but it is estimated at several million euros. It is valuable not only for its significance, but also for the criminal history with which the award is shrouded.

According to France Football, the Ballon d'Or was stolen from a bank in Naples in 1989, where Maradona kept it, and it was only found in 2016, when a humble collector, Abdelhamid, admitted that he bought it for a few hundred euros, not knowing that it was the same award.

Under French law, the collector has every reason to be considered the owner of the Ballon d'Or, as he bought it without knowing it had been stolen and Maradona and soon to be Maradona's heirs did not claim the award for three years after the purchase. Thus, it is in Abdelhamid's pocket that several million euros will end up.