Soccer Extreme : Italian police didn't want the shirt off Diego Maradona's back — just his earrings. Tax authorities visited the Argentina coach at an Alpine resort on Friday and took away a pair of his earrings as part payment of the former Napoli star's unpaid tax bill.The command office of the Bolzano Provincial Tax Police said Maradona himself handed over the pair of earrings, worth 4,000 euros ($5,900).
Tax police in the capital of the South Tyrol, or Alto Adige region, declined to describe the earrings taken from the Grand Hotel Palace in Merano, which boasts a beauty farm in its grounds. Italian television network Sky TG24 reported that they contained diamonds.
Police did not say whether Maradona was wearing them when it was time to pay up.
Three years ago, tax police took two Rolex watches from him when he went to a Naples suburb for a news conference and benefit appearance. The Italian news agency ANSA said the tax bill now stands at about 37 million euros ($54 million).
Maradona, 48, captained Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title, and had some stellar seasons for Napoli. He was kicked out of the 1994 World Cup and banned for 15 months for failing a doping test for stimulants. He was near death on a respirator five years ago after a heart attack attributed to a cocaine overdose.
With two qualifying games remaining next month, Argentina is in danger of missing its first World Cup since 1970, and Maradona is taking much of the blame. (washingtonexaminer)