[Source: Reuters]
An Italian court has acquitted Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona of tax evasion charges, ending a 30-year legal war between the former Napoli striker and tax authorities.
Known as “El Pibe de Oro,” Maradona was accused of acting as a representative in Liechtenstein to avoid legal fees when he won bills between 1985 and 1990 from the Napoli club for his rights to a personal symbol.
“It’s over and I can say clearly, without fear of being contradicted, that Maradona has never been a tax evader,” his lawyer, Angelo Pisani, told Reuters.
Rome’s Court of Cassation overturned a 2018 verdict in mid-December, a court document published on Wednesday and seen by Reuters showed.
Maradona died in November 2020 from an attack on the centre. Fans of Napoli and the Argentine national team worshipped him as the “god of football”.
Investigations into the footballer’s tax bills began in the early 1990s and resulted in fees of 37 million euros ($40. 38 million) and the seizure of some of the player’s assets during his visits to Italy.
Pisani added that the final verdict “does justice to the fans, to the values of sport, but above all to the memory of Maradona. “
“It places a grave stone on a persecution that he suffered for 30 years,” he said.
“Array. . . The heirs now have the legal right to claim damages,” Pisani said. “I hope they use it, in memory of their father. “