The auction of a trophy awarded to the late Diego Maradona that was planned this week has been postponed, French auction house Aguttes said on Sunday amid a judicial investigation looking into the possible resale of stolen goods.
Maradona’s heirs this week failed to stop the auction of the Golden Ball trophy he received for being the best player at the 1986 World Cup after starting an urgent judicial motion. A French court ruled the auction could go ahead but the lawyer for Maradona's heirs lodged an appeal.
“Maradona has always aroused passions, and this continues despite the recent court ruling on Thursday, which we welcome and which dismissed the heirs’ request for a ban on the sale,” Maximilien Aguttes said in a statement. “Our mission is to organize the auction in the best possible conditions, both for our seller and for the buyers. This litigious climate and these uncertainties do not allow connoisseurs to approach this acquisition calmly, and our role as a trusted third party can no longer be properly fulfilled.”
A new date for the auction has yet to be set.
French judicial officials last month opened an investigation after they received a complaint related to the resale of allegedly stolen goods. The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said the court ruling did not have an impact on the probe, which is still ongoing.
The Golden Ball was missing for decades after it disappeared in uncertain circumstances and only recently resurfaced. Maradona’s heirs say the trophy was stolen and claimed the current owner wasn’t entitled to sell it. Aguttes said the trophy reappeared in 2016 among other lots that were acquired from a private collection at auction in Paris.
The current owner and Aguttes claimed that when he bought the trophy years ago he was not aware it had been stolen.
Maradona received the award in 1986 at a ceremony at the Lido cabaret on the Champs-Élysées. It subsequently disappeared, giving rise to rumors. Some say it was lost during a poker game or sold to pay off debts. Others say Maradona stored it in a safe in a Naples bank that was robbed by local gangsters in 1989 when he played in the Italian league. Maradona’s heirs believe it was stolen from the bank.
The French court ruling noted the absence of “any criminal complaint lodged by the footballer during his lifetime” in relation with a possible theft of the trophy, and noted that Maradona’s heirs did not produce any evidence that a police investigation had been carried out when it disappeared.
Maradona, who died in 2020 at age 60, captained Argentina in its 3-2 win over West Germany in the 1986 final in Mexico City. In a quarterfinal win over England he scored the “Hand of God” goal and the “Goal of the Century.”
Aguttes said it expects the trophy “to fetch millions due to its uniqueness.”
The Hand of God goal came when Maradona punched the ball into England’s net. Four minutes later, he weaved through England’s midfield and defense and past goalkeeper Peter Shilton for what FIFA later declared the greatest goal in World Cup history.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Gilles Moreu, left, and Lola Chunet, lawyers for Maradona's daughters Dalma and Gianinna, discuss before a court hearing, Thursday, May 23, 2024 in Nanterre, outside Paris. Diego Maradona's heirs filed a lawsuit to try to stop the auction of a trophy he was awarded after the 1986 World Cup won by Argentina. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FILE - Argentina's soccer star Diego Maradona, left, and West German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher are holding their World Cup Soccer Ball awards while posing with two young soccer players during the Soccer Golden Shoe Award ceremony held in Paris, France, on Nov. 13, 1986. Diego Maradona's heirs filed a lawsuit to try to stop the auction of a trophy he was awarded after the 1986 World Cup won by Argentina. (AP Photo/Michael Lipchitz, File)
TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 31st home run, Gerrit Cole pitched five innings for his first win of the season and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1 on Sunday to split their four-game series.
Juan Soto was a late addition to New York’s lineup after sitting out Saturday’s loss because of a bruised right hand. The three-time All-Star and 2020 NL batting champion went 1 for 3 with an RBI and two walks.
DJ LeMahieu and Trent Grisham each had two hits and two RBIs for the Yankees. Ben Rice scored twice and drove in a run.
Gleyber Torres went 2 for 5, his third straight multihit game since a two-game benching last week.
New York finished a 2-4 trip that started with two losses in Queens against the Mets.
Cole (1-1) started the first of those interleague defeats, allowing six earned runs in four innings. He bounced back against the Blue Jays, permitting one run and three hits — all singles. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner struck out one and walked six. He threw a season-high 90 pitches, 61 for strikes, in his third start this year since returning from an elbow injury.
Michael Tonkin got five outs, Tim Hill retired all four batters he faced and Josh Maciejewski finished for New York.
Soto singled off Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman in the first and scored when Judge sent a 423-foot drive to center. It was Judge’s fifth career homer off Gausman, the most he’s hit off any opposing pitcher.
Gausman (6-7) allowed a season-worst seven earned runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked a season-high five and struck out seven. The right-hander has lost three of his past four starts.
Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier took a home run away from Alex Verdugo in the eighth, leaping above the center-field wall to make a spectacular catch.
Verdugo was called out on a two-strike pitch clock violation to end the fourth, stranding two.
ROSTER MOVES
New York selected Maciejewski’s contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated RHP Phil Bickford for assignment.
TORONTO TRADE
The Blue Jays acquired RHP Yerry Rodríguez from Texas for minor league RHP Josh Mollerus. Toronto assigned Rodríguez to Triple-A Buffalo.
TRAINER’S ROOM
New York transferred the rehab assignment of RHP JT Brubaker (elbow surgery) from the rookie-level Florida Complex League to Double-A Somerset.
UP NEXT
Yankees: Rookie RHP Luis Gil (9-3, 3.15 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday as New York returns home to begin a three-game series against Cincinnati. The Reds had not announced a starter.
Blue Jays: RHP Yariel Rodríguez (0-2, 5.94 ERA) starts Monday afternoon in a Canada Day matinee against Houston RHP Hunter Brown (5-5, 4.37).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
New York Yankees' Ben Rice (93) scores on a single from teammate DJ LeMahieu during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays' Spencer Horwitz, right, scores on a single by teammate Justin Turner during third-inning baseball game action against the New York Yankees in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman reacts as New York Yankees' Aaron Judge (99) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (34) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Yankees third base DJ LeMahieu, right, and teammate Ben Rice (93) celebrate after scoring on a double by Trent Grisham during fifth-inning baseball game action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hit by a pitch during third-inning baseball game action against the New York Yankees in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge is hit by a pitch during fourth-inning baseball game action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole throws during second-inning baseball game action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge celebrates as he rounds the bases after his two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
