Diego Maradona's heirs lost their legal battle in France on Thursday to prevent the sale of his 'Golden Ball' trophy from the 1986 Mexico World Cup. This trophy, awarded to the tournament's best player, had been missing for decades until it was found by an antique dealer in Paris. The Aguttes auction house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, plans to sell it on June 6.

The Maradona family claimed the trophy, awarded to Maradona in November 1986 at the Lido Cabaret in Paris, was stolen during a bank robbery in Naples three years later. However, a court in Nanterre ruled that the heirs "did not present any criminal proceedings that would have been filed by the footballer during his lifetime" and that "proof of the existence of this theft cannot be based solely on press articles."

The family's lawyers argued that the trophy, expected to fetch millions, rightfully belongs to Maradona's five heirs and should be returned to Argentina. They plan to appeal the decision. Gilles Moreu of the Paradox law firm expressed, "This concerns a trophy awarded to a football legend, it should go to Argentina."

The auction house and the person who found the 'Golden Ball' pleaded good faith. Maximilien Aguttes, director of the auction house, suggested that Maradona might have forgotten the trophy at the Lido the evening it was awarded. The antique dealer who acquired the trophy said he bought it at an auction in 2016 as part of a hardware lot comprising hundreds of trophies, most of which had little value.

In 2022, Maradona's jersey from the 1986 World Cup sold for nearly $9.3 million, and the "Hand of God" ball from the quarter-final against England sold for $2.4 million later that year. The public prosecutor's office confirmed that a criminal complaint has also been filed.