The Ballon d'Or Diego Armando Maradona received after winning the 1986 World Cup with Argentina, missing for 30 years, could be auctioned in Paris on June 6th for "several million euros," potentially setting a football sales record.

"It's difficult to establish a price. I could tell you that we expect several million euros to be paid, although the auction dynamics will ultimately determine the price. This is an art object," said Maximilien Aguttes, head of sales at Aguttes auction house, to EFE.

The reward, missing for three decades until a modest collector bought it in 2016 for a paltry sum, could potentially surpass the $9.2 million for which Sotheby's sold Maradona's legendary shirt worn against England in the 1986 World Cup in May 2022.

Three weeks before the auction, "many people have already expressed interest" in the item, Aguttes added, without providing further details on potential buyers.

The Ballon d'Or from the '86 World Cup, known as the "Adidas Golden Ball," was presented at a ceremony at the legendary Lido cabaret in Paris in November of that year. Maradona is photographed with the prize, which will be auctioned in June, during the event, also organized by France Football.

This photograph served collector Abdelhamid B., the lucky buyer in 2016, and Aguttes themselves to verify the piece's authenticity and protect themselves legally.

"When we received the Ball, we contacted Interpol, the Naples police, and also Maradona's family," François Thierry, an expert on sports objects at Aguttes, clarified to EFE about the 30 years when the prize was considered missing.

The mystery remains unsolved, though legal doubts have been resolved, as the three years during which Maradona's heirs could have claimed the item - according to French law - have passed.

"When he bought it, he didn't even know what it was, meaning he acted in good faith with his purchase," Thierry elaborated. The fortunate collector acquired Maradona's Ballon d'Or, along with other awards stacked in a box, for a few hundred euros at the Drouot Nord auction hall in Paris, where unsold items end up.

After six months of intensive verification, including high-definition photographs comparing the old Ballon d'Or images with those of the found Ballon, Aguttes' specialist considers it "100%" proven to be the original article.

Legend surrounds the reward, with various versions. In one, Maradona allegedly kept the prize in a safe deposit box at a Naples bank that was robbed by a mafia-affiliated gang. They supposedly melted it into gold bars, although the "Adidas Golden Ball" is copper alloy.

In another version, it supposedly became part of a poker game transaction.

"I've read a lot of things, and there's always an enigma surrounding Maradona, there's always some legend about him. And I think this Ballon also represents that legend, somehow, it responds to what his story is," concluded the Aguttes specialist.