Diego Maradona ‘died poor’ with ‘almost nothing left in his bank account’.
Maradona, who died from a heart attack at the age of 60 on Wednesday, squandered much of his vast fortune through a combination of a life of excess and having his money ‘stolen’ by people who took advantage of his remarkable generosity, according to a report in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The Argentina legend, who was arguably the greatest footballer in history, raked in huge sums through contracts with brands such as Puma, as well as £15million per year through being honorary president of Dynamo Brest in Belarus and coaching stints in the Middle East, yet had less than £75,000 in his bank accounts, the report claims.
It quotes an Argentine journalist called Luis Ventura who ‘had always been close’ to Maradona as saying on television programme Fantino a la Tarde: ‘He had almost nothing left in his bank account, he died poor.’
He added: ‘(Maradona’s wealth was) squandered because of his pierced hands and largely stolen in order to trick him and empty his pockets. All they had to do was ask and he gave.’
Angelo Pisani, a lawyer who helped Maradona to fight long-standing tax evasion charges in Italy, also claimed that Maradona had very little money. ‘He lived beyond his means and was very generous,’ he said. ‘If you want to know where his money went, talk to the people who surrounded him and used him. He never had more than €100 in his pocket.’
It has also been reported that Maradona had around £33m in unpaid taxes at the time of his death. He was once forced to hand over earrings to the tax man to settle a debt, and was once hit with a £40m tax bill from Italian authorities, which he denied owing.
There are, however, conflicting reports of Maradona’s wealth – or lack of it.
Although Maradona died cash poor, it seems the value of his assets might have been anything but, and there is now a battle looming over his inheritance, which will shed more light on the murky state of his finances.
His estate includes ‘jewels, land, prestigious properties including an entire building and several apartments in the centre of Buenos Aires, six luxury cars including BMW, Audi and Rolls Royce, investments in Cuba and Italy, football schools in China and image rights contracts that will remain in effect even after death’, according to Corriere della Sera.
His estate could, therefore, be potentially worth up to £150m, according to reports in Argentina.
‘Everyone wants a piece of the treasure,’ the report claims.
Among those set to benefit financially from Maradona’s death include his children.
Before he died one of his daughters joked that he could make up a starting XI from his children.
Maradona had recognised two sons and three daughters by four different women – including his ex-wife Claudia Villafane and former long-term partner Veronica Ojeda – as his own.
His recognised children are Diego Junior, 34, Jana, 23, Dalma, 32, Gianinna, 30 and Diego Fernando, seven.
His rumoured offspring include ‘The Cuban trio’ – Joana, Lu and Javielito, who were born after Maradona moved to the Caribbean island in February 2000 to fight drink and drug addictions. Santiago Lara, 19 and Magali Gil, a 23-year-old Argentinian, are among was the latest fighting to prove Maradona is their father.
But his children are in line to receive far less than they might have hoped because so much of Maradona’s cash had been siphoned off by various people in recent years, according to Ventura’s account.
