Maradona: The auction attracted bidders from several Latin American countries. (File)
Buenos Aires:
An online auction of about 90 items owned by late football icon Diego Maradona has ended up with a house and unsold BMW, but most other memorabilia speak for themselves. its organization said Tuesday.
The December 19 auction was extended several days after the most expensive pieces initially failed to attract buyers.
According to AFP calculations, the initial three-hour auction brought in only $26,000, with properties worth more than $1.4 million owned by the former Barcelona and Napoli star.
At the end of the new term, the house in Buenos Aires that Maradona gave his parents, with a minimum of 900,000 USD, still could not find a buyer, and a luxury 2017 BMW for 225,000 USD was also missing.
Another BMW, model year 2016, sold for $165,000.
“For the rest, we have received bids” in the second round, which will now be submitted to the judge for approval, Grupo auction house Adrian Mercado Subastas told AFP news agency.
These include TVs, exercise equipment, and treadmills.
The auction attracted bidders from several Latin American countries, Italy, France, UK, Russia and Dubai.
The biggest single offer was $2,150 on the first day of auction for a painting by the former World Cup champion by artist Lu Sedova.
The second most expensive photo is Maradona’s photo with the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, bought by a buyer in Dubai for $1,600.
Other items on sale include Napoli team jerseys, training pants and a box of Cuban cigars.
Mercado said he is optimistic about selling an apartment Maradona owns in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata ($65,000), where he is awaiting an official offer.
He also expects the second BMW to receive a bid in the coming days.
This would leave only the 700 square meter (7,500 square foot) Buenos Aires home in a 500 square meter parkland where Maradona’s parents had lived for 30 years.
The sale was ordered by a judge to pay the debts and accumulated expenses of the fortune of Maradona, who died of cardiac arrest on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
