Diego Maradona had some time on his hands on Tuesday, until Italian tax police near Naples took two Rolex watches the Argentine soccer legend was wearing, to chip away at a â,¬30-million ($38,5-million) unpaid income tax bill.
”We were surprised he was wearing them because he knows that when he comes to Italy he risks losing something,” Geremia Guercia of the tax police said by telephone from the Naples suburb of Giugliano In Campania.
Guercia said he approached Maradona at the end of a news conference on Tuesday evening ahead of a benefit appearance and asked him to come with him to the tax police station. The Argentine was wearing a Rolex on each wrist, Guercia said.
”He was very polite, very gentle, very calm,” Guercia said of Maradona.
”When he was leaving he was very nice about giving his autograph to those who asked.”
Together the watches are worth about â,¬10 000 (about $13 000), Guercia said, but when they are auctioned off by the tax police, Maradona’s name could make them fetch far more.
The tax bill comes from unpaid income tax when Maradona played for Naples in the 1980s.
Maradona was wearing earrings when he was led away, and sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport described them as diamonds that the tax police also wanted to confiscate.
But Guercia said by the time Maradona arrived at the station, he wasn’t wearing the earrings.
”Maybe he had them in a bag, or in a pocket, but by law we couldn’t search him,” the official said.
After a previous trip to Italy, money was confiscated from pay Maradona received for an appearance on Italian state TV, Guercia said.
Tuesday night’s benefit, aimed at raising funds to buy an ambulance, was postponed because of heavy rain. ‒ Sapa-AP