The body of late soccer great Diego Maradona ‘must be conserved’ in case his DNA is needed in a paternity case, an Argentine court ruled on Wednesday.
Maradona died of a heart attack last month and was buried on Nov. 26 in a cemetery just outside Buenos Aires.
While Maradona’s lawyer had previously told news agency Reuters that DNA samples already exist, the court said the former Boca Juniors and Napoli player’s body must not be cremated at a later date.
Diego Maradona, pictured with his doctor, Leopoldo Luque (left), just days before he died in November. Luque is now under investigation over the mysterious nature of the football icon’s final few days
The hearse carrying Maradona’s casket to the cemetery outside Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires, was watched by thousands of mourners
His coffin, draped in an Argentinian flag, was carried by his family and friends at his funeral at the Jardin Bella Vista cemetery, in Buenos Aires on Thursday
His daughters Dalma, 33, (left) and Giannina, 31, leave the Casa Rosada presidential palace at the end of the wake. Maradona also has three recognised sons, plus more claimed children
Five recognised children and six with filiation requests are part of a complex inheritance process in Argentina.
One of the six, Magali Gil, 25, says she found out two years ago that the soccer icon was her biological father.
The ruling from the National Court of First Instance in Civil Matters No. 56 also said: ‘Ms. Gil requests that a study be carried out … and that for this purpose the acting prosecutor’s office send a DNA sample.’
In October last year a 23-year-old brunette called Magali Gil (pictured) emerged as the latest possible member of Maradona’s brood
Maradona recognised four children in Argentina and one in Italy, which he had during his time as a player in the country.
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.
Italian Magali Gil said she will never stop until she knows the truth which could leave her with a chunk of his reported £37million fortune.
She said in a recent Instagram video: ‘Hello, I’m Magali Gil. I decided to make this video and to make the announcement to put an end to all the speculation and theories that have been circulating around my case.
‘First of all, I want to tell you that my search was always the same, there was never any deviation.
‘It was always a matter as simple as resolving my identity: to know if Diego Maradona is my biological 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 Argentine journalist Luis Ventura, who was close with the star.
Speaking on television programme Fantino a la Tarde last month he said: ‘He had almost nothing left in his bank account, he died poor.’
‘(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 his client 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.
Last month, Santiago Lara (pictured), who comes from the same Argentinian city of La Plata where Maradona managed Gimnasia y Esgrima, made a renewed TV appeal for the football legend to recognise him as his son
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 Itlian newspaper Corriere della Sera.