Diego Maradona's 'stolen' 1986 WC trophy to go under hammer

Late Argentine footballer Diego Maradona's player of the 1986 World Cup Golden Ball trophy, which was stolen long ago, has recently been rediscovered and is up for auction.

The valuable item will be auctioned off in France on June 6, according to the Aguttes auction house, BBC Sports reported.

Maradona, who died at the age of 60 in 2020, won the award after leading Argentina to victory in the Fifa World Cup in Mexico.

The Aguttes auction house sport expert Francois Thierry confirmed that the item is authentic despite many stories and legends about the trophy being "stolen by the mafia to make gold."

Thierry explained that an anonymous seller had bought the trophy in 2016 at an auction in France not knowing what he had purchased.

"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," Thierry explained "He tried to call Maradona and Fifa, but had no luck."

In the 1986 World Cup, the late Argentine striker scored two goals against England in the quarter-finals one of which was named the "Hand of God" while the other was voted the "Goal of the Century" by Fifa.

Maradona’s jersey he wore that day and the ball from the match, have been sold at auction for millions.

"We can see there were some results from before when his jersey against England in 1986 being sold for I think £9 million and the ball of the game went for £2 million, so we expect millions."