The trophy, awarded to the tournament's best player, had been missing for decades before being found by an antiques dealer in the French capital.

It was due to be sold by the Aguttes auction house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, on 6 June, but the auction was thrown into doubt by lawyers from Maradona's family, who tried to block the sale by claiming it had been stolen from a bank safe in Naples in 1989. Maradona became a legend in southern Italian football (259 games between 1984 and 1991, scoring 115 goals and providing 78 assists).

According to the family of Diego Armando Maradona, the trophy, which was awarded at the Lido Cabaret in Paris in November 1986, was stolen during a famous robbery at the Banco Provincia in Naples, along with other historic items belonging to Maradona (jewellery, watches, cash, medals, trophies). The items were never recovered, even with the help of the Camorra (Naples Mafia), with whom Maradona reportedly had good relations due to the Neapolitan people's almost religious idolatry of the Argentine.

On Thursday, a court in Nanterre, just outside Paris, ruled that the heirs had "not presented any criminal proceedings that would have been brought by the footballer during his lifetime", which prevents them from claiming the item was stolen and interrupting the statute of limitations to initiate the appropriate proceedings. "Proof of the existence of this theft cannot be based solely on press articles," the court concluded.

Had the 1986 World Cup winner with the Argentine national team submitted the complaint form in time and in the correct form, the theft and whereabouts of the trophy could have been proven, which would have made it possible to claim ownership of the trophy should it be found or reappear.

As this was not the case, the French court of first instance dismissed the Maradona family's claim to the trophy and granted ownership to the current owner, who is presumed to hold it in good faith (under Roman law, the contrary must be proven).

Lawyers for the family of Maradona, who died in 2020 at the age of 60 and whose trial for medical negligence (manslaughter) in his death was suspended this week, argued that this piece of memorabilia from the player's illustrious career, which is expected to fetch millions, rightfully belongs to his five heirs, and they will appeal the first instance ruling.

Maradona's representative at the time, Guillermo Coppola, confirmed the theft and explained that the item had never been returned because, unlike other items that had been recovered, it had been melted down and sold by the Neapolitan mafia, who had intervened to recover it. A reward of 15 million Italian lire (about $11,000 at the time) was offered, but the recovery could not be completed because it was said to no longer exist.

In 2022, Maradona's Argentina jersey from the 1986 tournament sold for nearly $9.3 million, while the "Hand of God" ball from the quarter-final against England sold for $2.4 million later that year.

"This is a trophy awarded to a football legend; it should go to Argentina," said Gilles Moreu of the Paradox law firm, which is representing the family in Europe.

For their part, the lawyers representing the person who found the Ballon d'Or trophy and the auction house organising the sale claimed good faith, which is presumed unless proven otherwise.

Maximilien Aguttes, director of the auction house, said that one of the "legends" circulating about the trophy was that Maradona had left it at the Lido on the night it was awarded.

The antiques dealer who acquired the trophy said he bought it at an auction in 2016 "in a hardware lot" consisting of hundreds of trophies, most of them of little value.