Diego Maradona

Soccer Star's Earring Sold For Big Bucks

At the start of the month I mentioned that Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona's earrings would be auctioned off to help pay his huge 36 million tax debt in Italy. BusinessWeek reports that the earring (turns out it was just the one) sold for an astounding 25,000 euros ($36,220) at the auction organized by the Italian financial police. The earring was purchased by an unidentified woman at the auction in the city of Bolzano and was only valued at around 4,000 euros. The winner also gets a copy of the police's charge sheet with Maradona's signature.

Italy's finance police had seized the earring from Maradona when he was in Italy in September at at a weight-loss clinic. The star, who now coaches Argentina's team, has struggled with his weight for years. Maradona racked up the debt during his time playing for Napoli in the late 1980s-early 1990s. The financial police have been persistent about getting the money back, in 2005 they took the fee he'd earned for testing his twinkle toes in the Italian version of the television show "Dancing With the Stars."

Tags: diamonds, Diego Maradona, DiegoMaradona, soccer, tax debt, TaxDebt

Soccer Star's Earrings To Be Sold For Tax Debt

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports

Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona is considered one of the best players of all time. But that doesn't mean he's immune from financial turmoil. The star, who is currently a coach in Argentina has had his ups and downs including drug abuse and weight gain. He's also run afoul of Italian tax authorities. Maradona has a tax debt of 36 million euros stemming from his time playing for Napoli in the late 1980s-early 1990s. It's just a drop in the bucket but Italy's financial authorities seized Maradona's diamond-studded gold earrings when he visited a weight-loss clinic in Merano during September 2009. The earrings, which are valued at around 4000 euros, will be sold off on January 14 and come with a copy of the police's charge sheet with Maradona's signature.

Tags: debt, Diego Maradona, DiegoMaradona, soccer