DIEGO MARADONA has been awarded a £59,000 court settlement from Dolce and Gabbana following a long-running court dispute.
The football icon sued the Italian firm after a model wore a Napoli shirt with his name and number on it during a fashion show.
Dolce and Gabbana has been ordered to pay Diego Maradona £59,000 in damages after a model wore a shirt with his name on
The Argentinian’s lawyers said the retired star had not been contacted ahead of the show, which took place in Naples in 2016, or asked if he consented to his name being used.
Dolce & Gabbana, which had insisted it was paying tribute to Maradona, who is still a hero to many in the southern Italian city, was also ordered to pay his legal fees. The total bill is expected to reach around £70,000.
The 59-year-old, in a statement released after the court decision, said: “I’ve just been informed from Italy that today the trial ended against Dolce & Gabbana for using my name without permission.
“Tributes are fantastic but I think they should have asked for the permission they needed to use my name in their show.”
Tributes are fantastic but I think they should have asked for the permission they needed to use my name in their show
Diego Maradona
Maradona’s lawyer Ulisse Corea said an abuse had taken place even though the Maradona shirt featured in a tribute to the city of Naples because it was also a commercial venture.
He added: “The only person who can use that name, as well as the image of such a famous person to obtain financial benefits, is Maradona himself.”
Maradona, currently managing top-flight Argentinian side Gimnasia, signed for Napoli from Barcelona in July 1984 for a world-record fee at the time.
He was key to them winning their first-ever league title in the 1986-87 season.
Neapolitans reacted by holding mock funerals for Juventus and Milan.
Murals of Maradona were painted on city buildings and newborn children named after him.
The team went on to win a second league title and finish runners-up twice while he was at the club.
He remained Napoli’s top goalscorer with 115 goals until his record was broken in 2017 by Marek Hamsik. Maradona’s number 10 shirt was officially retired after he left the club.
Maradona insisted that he hadn’t been contacted for his permission ahead of the showCredit: Getty – Contributor
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
